Many online businesses want to accept card payments but either can’t get a traditional merchant account or would rather be paid in stablecoins. With an on-ramp based gateway, your customer pays with a normal card and you receive USDC in your own wallet. Here’s how that works and what to watch out for.
How card-to-crypto payments work
Crypto on-ramp providers — companies like Coinbase, Banxa, Binance, Transak and others — are licensed to sell crypto to people paying by card. A card-to-crypto gateway uses these providers as the payment rail:
- Your customer checks out on your store and is redirected to a hosted checkout.
- They pay by Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay or Google Pay through an available provider.
- The provider processes the card payment and delivers stablecoins.
- The gateway forwards the funds to your self-custodial wallet — with WerninBill, typically as USDC on Polygon.
From the customer’s point of view it’s a normal card payment. They don’t need a wallet and don’t need to know crypto is involved.
Advantages for merchants
- No merchant account application. The card relationship is with the licensed provider, not with you.
- No PCI DSS scope. Card details are entered on the hosted checkout, never on your server.
- Fast settlement. Funds are forwarded to your wallet once the payment is confirmed, rather than after a multi-day payout cycle.
- Dollar-stable payouts. USDC tracks the US dollar, so you’re not exposed to crypto price swings.
Things to know
- Provider fees apply. On top of WerninBill’s 1% platform fee, the on-ramp provider charges its own fee, which varies by country, card type and amount.
- Availability varies. Not every provider serves every country, and some may verify the customer for larger or unusual transactions.
- Use a self-custodial wallet. Payouts should go to a wallet you control, not an exchange deposit address.
- Stay within the rules. Scams, adult content, gambling, alcohol and drugs, and other criminal activity are not allowed. See compliance.
Getting started
If you run WooCommerce, WHMCS, OpenCart or PrestaShop, download the matching plugin from the card payment gateway page, install it and add your wallet address. For custom sites there’s a PHP starter integration. Without a website, you can create a payment link instead.
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