NowPayments charges 0.5%–1% plus takes 1–3 business days to settle. Here's why high-volume merchants are switching to Bekena for true 1% flat fee with same-day settlement.
NowPayments is one of the older crypto payment processors — founded in 2019 and serving over 50,000 merchants. But as the market has matured, its fee structure and settlement speed are starting to show their age. If you're processing significant volume, the difference between NowPayments and a modern alternative adds up fast.
NowPayments Fee Structure: What You Actually Pay
NowPayments advertises fees starting at 0.5%, but the effective rate depends on your plan. The free tier charges 0.5% for auto-conversions to stablecoins plus additional conversion spreads. Fixed-rate stablecoin payments (USDT to USDT) are priced at 1%. When you add up the conversion fees, custody fees, and withdrawal fees, the total cost often exceeds 1.5% for merchants not on paid plans.
- ✓Stablecoin-to-stablecoin: 0.5%–1% depending on plan
- ✓Auto-conversion to fiat or BTC: 0.5% + conversion spread (1%–3%)
- ✓Withdrawal fee: variable per network
- ✓API plan required for full features: $0–$500/month
- ✓Effective rate for most merchants: 1.0%–2.5%
NowPayments Settlement Speed
NowPayments offers "rolling reserves" and settlement windows that vary by account. New merchants typically see 1–3 business day settlement. High-risk categories (iGaming, forex) can face 7+ day holds. The platform processes transactions in batches, not in real-time.
Bekena vs NowPayments: Direct Comparison
- ✓Fees: Bekena 1% flat vs NowPayments 0.5%–2.5% effective
- ✓Settlement: Bekena ~5 minutes vs NowPayments 1–3 business days
- ✓Coins: both support major stablecoins and Bitcoin/Ethereum
- ✓No conversion spreads: Bekena settles in the coin received
- ✓No monthly platform fees: Bekena charges per transaction only
- ✓No merchant category restrictions for digital businesses
Migrating from NowPayments to Bekena
Bekena's REST API is structurally similar to NowPayments. Both use POST /invoice (or equivalent) to create a payment, webhook callbacks for confirmation, and GET /invoice/:id to check status. A typical migration takes a developer 2–4 hours to update the API endpoint, authentication headers, and webhook verification logic.
- 1Create a Bekena merchant account and generate API keys
- 2Replace NowPayments base URL with https://api.bekena.com/v1
- 3Update authentication headers (Bekena uses X-Api-Key)
- 4Map NowPayments currency codes to Bekena equivalents (e.g., USDTTRC20 → USDT_TRC20)
- 5Update webhook endpoint and implement HMAC-SHA256 signature verification
- 6Test with small live transactions before full cutover
When NowPayments Still Makes Sense
NowPayments has a larger coin list (300+ coins) than Bekena. If you genuinely need obscure altcoins, it may be worth the higher fees. For most businesses, however, 95%+ of payments arrive in USDT, BTC, or ETH — and for those, Bekena's economics are substantially better.