Frequently Asked Questions

Zateway is a non-custodial crypto payment gateway that enables businesses to accept USDT and USDC payments on multiple blockchains. Funds settle directly to your self-custody wallet — Zateway never holds your money.

Zateway is 100% non-custodial. Payments route through smart contracts directly from the customer's wallet to yours. Zateway never has access to your funds at any point in the transaction flow.

Zateway currently supports USDT (Tether) and USDC (USD Coin) — the two largest stablecoins by market cap. Both are pegged 1:1 to the US dollar, eliminating price volatility risk.

Zateway supports Polygon, Solana, Base, BNB Chain (BSC), Arbitrum, and Optimism. All chains offer sub-dollar gas fees and fast confirmation times.

Zateway charges a flat 1% fee per confirmed transaction. There are no setup fees, no monthly fees, no withdrawal fees, and no hidden charges. The 1% fee is enforced by the smart contract on-chain.

No. Because Zateway is non-custodial, funds go directly to your wallet. There is no withdrawal process and therefore no withdrawal fee.

The payer (customer) pays the network gas fee for their transaction. On supported chains like Polygon and Solana, gas fees are typically under $0.01.

Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. Zateway charges 1% flat. On a $100 payment, you save $2.20 with Zateway. At scale, this amounts to significant savings.

For payments processed through Zateway's on-chain router contracts, the 1% fee rate is immutable — hardcoded into the smart contract and cannot be changed by anyone. This provides a permanent fee guarantee.

When a customer completes a payment, the smart contract automatically splits the funds: 99% goes to your merchant wallet, 1% goes to the protocol. Settlement happens the moment the blockchain confirms the transaction — typically under a minute on most chains.

No. Zateway cannot freeze, hold, or access your funds because payments settle directly to your self-custody wallet via smart contracts. This is fundamentally different from custodial processors.

No. Blockchain transactions are irreversible once confirmed. There are no chargebacks, no disputes, and no fraud-related losses. This is one of the biggest advantages of crypto payments.

Zateway uses industry-standard encryption, secure API key management, and webhook signature verification. We do not store customer wallet private keys or sensitive financial data.

Depends on chain: Solana ~400ms, Arbitrum ~250ms, Polygon ~2s, Base ~2s, Optimism ~2s, BSC ~3s. All dramatically faster than card payments (2-7 day settlement).

You can integrate via our REST API (create payment sessions, listen for webhooks), use our hosted checkout page (no code required), or generate payment links from the dashboard. Full documentation is available at zateway.com/docs.

Yes. You can integrate Zateway with Shopify by creating payment links for orders or using the API to build a custom checkout flow. A dedicated Shopify plugin is on our roadmap.

Yes. Zateway can be integrated with WooCommerce via the API or payment links. Integration guides are available in our documentation.

Yes. Zateway sends webhook notifications for payment events including payment confirmed, payment expired, and payment failed. Webhooks include HMAC signature verification for security.

Yes. Zateway publishes a full OpenAPI 3.0 spec at /openapi.json. This enables automatic SDK generation, Postman import, and AI agent integration.

Yes. Use zate_test_* API keys for sandbox mode. Transactions are processed on testnets. Webhooks fire normally. Full dashboard access included.

Basic merchant onboarding requires only an email and wallet address. Because Zateway is non-custodial, the regulatory requirements are different from custodial processors. However, merchants are responsible for complying with their local regulations.

Zateway is available in 100+ countries globally. Since payments settle to your own wallet and Zateway does not custody funds, there are no country-specific banking restrictions. Check your local regulations regarding crypto payment acceptance.

Any self-custody wallet that supports the chains you want to use. For EVM chains (Polygon, Base, BSC, Arbitrum, Optimism), use MetaMask, Ledger, or any EVM-compatible wallet. For Solana, use Phantom or Solflare.

Zateway is non-custodial (direct to your wallet), while Coinbase Commerce is custodial (holds your funds). Zateway supports 6 chains, fiat payments, and has zero account freeze risk. Coinbase Commerce has been known to freeze merchant accounts.

BitPay is custodial, Bitcoin-centric, requires mandatory KYC, and settles in fiat only. Zateway is non-custodial, stablecoin-first, optional KYC, and settles in crypto directly to your wallet at 1% flat fee.

Stripe charges 2.9%+30¢ vs Zateway's 1% flat. Stripe has chargebacks, Zateway has zero. Stripe settles in 2-7 days, Zateway settles instantly on-chain. Zateway is non-custodial.

Yes. PayPal charges 2.99%+fixed, has chargebacks, 180-day fund holds, and custodial crypto (can't withdraw). Zateway is 1% flat, zero chargebacks, instant settlement, non-custodial.

Razorpay supports fiat payments only (no crypto) and charges 2%. Zateway is a crypto+fiat hybrid gateway with 1% flat crypto fees and availability in 100+ countries vs Razorpay's India-only focus.

Zateway is non-custodial while NOWPayments is custodial. Zateway focuses on stablecoins (no volatility risk), while NOWPayments supports 200+ volatile tokens. Zateway also supports fiat payments.

Yes. Zateway's REST API is designed for AI agent workflows with idempotency keys, deterministic status codes, OpenAPI spec, sandbox mode, and status polling endpoints. AI agents can create payments, monitor status, and process confirmations autonomously.

The OpenAPI specification at /openapi.json is a machine-readable description of Zateway's API. AI agents and code generation tools can read this to automatically understand how to interact with the payment API.

Yes. POST /api/v1/sessions with amount, currency, chain, and webhookUrl. The API returns a checkout URL and session ID that the AI agent can monitor for payment completion.

MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Coinbase Wallet, Rainbow (EVM chains), Phantom, Solflare (Solana), and 300+ wallets via WalletConnect protocol.

Yes. Every Zateway checkout page shows a QR code. Customers scan with their mobile wallet for cross-device payments.

A no-code way to accept crypto. Create from dashboard with amount and description, share via URL/QR/email. Customer clicks and pays on a branded checkout page.

Use any crypto exchange (Binance, Coinbase, Kraken) or on-ramp service (MoonPay, Transak) to sell USDT/USDC for fiat currency and withdraw to bank.