It is quite clear that cryptocurrencies already play a major role in the global finance industry. This translates into the growing number of use cases for cryptocurrencies. One of the primary use cases of crypto is payments. Nowadays, many companies offer an option of crypto payments to their clients. The majority of businesses process payments using the services of crypto payment gateways. NOWPayments is one of the leading crypto payment gateways on the market, which is utilized by numerous businesses around the world. Check out our guide on how you can pay for products and services with crypto at businesses that use NOWPayments’ crypto gateway tools.
Key points:
- NOWPayments is a crypto payment gateway.
- Consumers can pay with cryptocurrency at stores that use NOWPayments.
- The payment process is fast and private.
How do crypto payments work?
Crypto payments are mostly no different from mainstream payment solutions. At the same time, there are certain features that only crypto payments have. Crypto payments utilize the blockchain to transfer funds from one crypto address to another. Essentially, when you pay for a product using crypto, you send a certain sum in crypto to the merchant’s address.
In the case of those merchants that use NOWPayments’ solutions for processing crypto payments, clients send their crypto funds to NOWPayments’ crypto address and then NOWPayments transfers the sum to the merchant.
What is NOWPayments? Why do websites use crypto payments gateway?
About NOWPayments
NOWPayments.io is one of the main crypto payment gateways on the market. The service provides tools to all kinds of eCommerce and brick-and-mortar companies enabling them to accept crypto as payment. NOWPayments offers more than 100 different cryptocurrencies as possible payment options for users. NOWPayments also allows merchants to utilize fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-fiat conversion features. Additionally, NOWPayments enables individuals such as bloggers or musicians and non-profit organizations to accept cryptocurrency donations.
Whether you want to accept payments in crypto for your business, crypto donations for your project, or conduct mass payouts – NOWPayments is here for you and ready to come up with a customized decision made specifically for you and perfect for your needs.
How NOWPayments works
As mentioned above, NOWPayments function as an intermediary between consumers and merchants. Essentially, NOWPayments facilitates the payment process for the two parties. First, NOWPayments provides tools such as invoices, point-of-sale terminals, and plugins to merchants. These tools are ready-made and can be deployed by users in a matter of minutes.
NOWPayments’ advantages
Non-custodial
NOWPayments is a non-custodial service which means that it does not store the funds of its clients on its crypto addresses. Essentially, NOWPayments conducts an instant payout to its partners whenever they receive a payment from their client. Other crypto payment gateways tend to keep the funds of their customers in their crypto wallets and release them only after a request from the customer. NOWPayments discards this approach in favor of a fairer and more convenient solution.
Multi-currency support
Another major advantage of NOWPayments is its support of dozens of cryptocurrencies. Essentially, all cryptocurrencies provided by NOWPayments can be used by businesses as payment methods. Currently, NOWPayments supports more than 100 cryptocurrencies. With the help of NOWPayments, merchants can accept both mainstream coins such as Bitcoin and niche tokens such as RACA. Moreover, NOWPayments allows merchants to feature any number of crypto payment options. This means that businesses using NOWPayments can accept practically all of the cryptocurrencies featured by NOWPayments as payment simultaneously and without any obstacles.
Custom solutions
NOWPayments has an extensive selection of tools for featuring crypto payments. Each tool is relevant for different types of businesses. For instance, there are plugins which are compatible with various eCommerce platforms, including WooCommerce and Shopify. There is also the Point-of-Sale terminal which enables brick-and-mortar stores to issue invoices. At the same time, NOWPayments is a flexible service, and it can develop custom solutions for any business which will fit their particular needs and requirements. So, any company can contact NOWPayments and get a crypto payments solution that will seamlessly integrate with their infrastructure.
Why merchants use crypto payment gateways like NOWPayments
Businesses choose to use crypto payment gateway services because it is much more convenient than accepting crypto payments manually. Of course, merchants can get crypto payments without the help of intermediaries, yet that way, they miss out on certain features. For instance, NOWPayments automatically adjusts the sum of the payment according to the latest value on the crypto exchanges every 5 minutes. Basically, when merchants create a crypto invoice using NOWPayments, they can be certain that they will receive the required sum in its entirety.
Additionally, there are other extra features that NOWPayments offers. For instance, NOWPayments has an automatic conversion feature that enables merchants to accept crypto as payment but get their funds in fiat currencies. Similarly, merchants can accept fiat payments and get the money in crypto. So, by using NOWPayments, merchants have much more opportunities and functionality.
Are there any fees?
There are two main fees when it comes to crypto payments. When a customer makes a purchase with crypto, they send the sum to another crypto address. Such transactions entail a network fee. These fees vary depending on the network used to make the transaction.
Merchants that use NOWPayments, in their turn, need to pay a transaction processing fee to NOWPayments. This fee is only 0.5% per transaction which is quite insufficient. Moreover, if merchants have a substantial volume of payments, their fee can go to 0.4% per transaction. Additionally, when NOWPayments sends the transaction to the merchant’s address, the merchant also covers the network fee.
So… how to pay crypto
The basics
If you already have a wallet with cryptocurrency and are ready to make your first purchase, you can skip this step. Yet, if you have never used crypto but want to do so and wish to buy something with it, then you are in the right place. Follow these steps to set up your crypto wallet and purchase crypto:
1. Download and install a crypto wallet app. For instance, you can use Guarda, which has both desktop and mobile versions.
2. Open the wallet and generate a crypto address for the coin which you wish to have. Remember to save your seed phrase and the private key and do not disclose them to anyone since these are the keys to your funds.
3. Once you have your public address, you can send crypto to this address. Note that every cryptocurrency requires its own unique crypto address.
4. To purchase crypto, you can go to custodial exchanges such as Binance or non-custodial ones such as СhangeNOW.
5. Then, after purchasing the crypto of your choice, you can transfer it to your previously generated crypto address.
6. In order to make the process of payment easier and more convenient, we recommend using a mobile crypto wallet since, thus, you will be able to simply scan a QR code and confirm the transaction.
How to pay with crypto at online stores
Since NOWPayments offers several different tools for accepting crypto payments, there are two main types of payment processes. First of all, let’s explore the payment process at online stores which integrate NOWPayments’ plugins and API. Here are the steps you need to take to pay at an online store that uses NOWPayments’ solutions:
Please note that the payment processes may vary depending on the merchants’ website interface. Nevertheless, the steps outlined below are, in general, present in every online store.
Example: Pay for John Richmond clothes
1. Add items to your cart and go to the checkout page.
2. Fill out the form by providing your shipping address and other requested details and choose your shipping method.
3. On the “Payment” page, choose NOWPayments from the available options.
4. On the “Review and Pay” page, make sure that your shipping address is correct and press the NOWPayments button.
5. In the menu, pick the cryptocurrency in which you would like to pay for your products and proceed to payment.
6. Next, transfer the required sum in crypto to the merchant’s address. Alternatively, you can use your smartphone’s camera to scan the QR code and pay with crypto using your mobile crypto wallet app.
7. Once the payment is made, you will get a receipt, and the merchant will ship your product to you.
Paying with crypto using an invoice
Apart from the automatic crypto payment tools, NOWPayments offers an option of generating custom invoices. Every invoice contains the sum which needs to be transferred to the merchant’s crypto address and the QR code which you need to use to pay with crypto. In order to pay using crypto with an invoice, follow these steps:
1. Ask the merchant about the available payment options and choose the cryptocurrency which fits you best.
2. Next, the merchant will create an invoice, which you will need to settle by scanning the QR code and transferring the sum to the address specified in the invoice.
Conclusion
NOWPayments provides businesses with the capacity to accept crypto payments. The payment process designed by NOWPayments is simple and seamless.