High-risk payment processing can't be priced the same way e-commerce platforms charge $99/month. Your MDR depends on industry, region, volume, chargeback history, and licence status. This page shows exactly what drives your rate, the actual ranges merchants land in per vertical, and gets you a firm quote in under 4 business hours.
Any processor who publishes "2.9% + $0.30" is either pricing for a narrow use case and misleading everyone outside it, or pricing conservatively and leaving money on the table for everyone who deserves better. High-risk processing has structural pricing inputs that generic processors don't have.
An MGA-licensed casino at €10M/month with a 0.3% chargeback rate is a different underwriting question to a Curaçao-licensed casino at €500K/month with a 1.1% chargeback rate. Same vertical, wildly different risk.
India UPI, SEPA, PIX, and card processing have fundamentally different underlying cost structures. A merchant processing 80% UPI in India has a different economic model to one processing 80% SEPA in Europe. One rate can't cover both.
MDR steps down at real volume thresholds because acquiring bank economics change with volume. A $10M/month operator carries different cost-of-processing than a $500K/month operator. Publishing a single rate flattens this and penalises scale.
When we quote a rate, these are the inputs we underwrite against. Knowing them upfront lets you estimate where you'll land in the indicative ranges below — and means there are no surprises when the firm quote arrives.
iGaming, crypto, and forex carry higher baseline risk than travel or nutraceuticals. MCC 6211 (retail forex), MCC 7995 (gambling), and MCC 6051 (crypto) each have their own acquiring-bank economics.
UPI, SEPA, PIX, and cards differ in interchange, settlement cycle, and chargeback exposure. A merchant splitting 70% UPI / 30% cards prices differently to one splitting 100% cards.
MDR steps down at roughly $500K, $1M, $5M, and $10M+/month tiers. A larger merchant sees a meaningfully lower effective rate than a startup — volume-based pricing is built in.
Merchants with a documented sub-0.5% chargeback rate over 90+ days receive meaningfully better pricing. New operators without history typically start at the top of their vertical's range; rates drop as history accrues.
MGA, UKGC, CySEC, FCA, Curaçao, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Estonia — licensed operators receive preferential pricing. Unlicensed operators in permissive jurisdictions can still be underwritten with enhanced due diligence.
Fiat settlement in INR, EUR, BRL, USD has different cost bases than stablecoin settlement in USDT or USDC. Stablecoin carries a 0.3–0.8% conversion spread that's typically net-savings vs bank FX.
These are the MDR bands we quote to each vertical. A licensed operator at $500K–$5M/month with a clean chargeback history typically lands in the middle of the range. New operators without history usually start at the top; established large-volume operators with strong history price below the mid-point.
| Vertical & region | Primary rail | MDR range | Per-transaction fee | Settlement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iGaming — India | UPI, Net Banking, Cards | 2.5–4.5% | ₹0–2 | T+1 INR / daily USDT |
| iGaming — Europe | SEPA, iDEAL, Cards | 2.2–3.8% | €0.15–0.30 | T+1 EUR / daily USDT |
| Online Casino — Europe | SEPA, Cards, local APM | 2.2–3.8% | €0.15–0.30 | T+1 EUR / daily USDT |
| Online Casino — Brazil | PIX, Boleto, Cards | 2.5–4.2% | R$0.30–0.80 | T+1 BRL / daily USDT |
| Forex / CFD — Global | Cards, Wire, UPI | 1.8–3.2% | $0.20–0.40 | T+1 fiat / daily USDT |
| Fantasy Sports — India | UPI (bank-direct P2M) | 2.5–4.0% | ₹0–2 | T+1 INR / daily USDT |
| Crypto Exchange — Global | UPI, SEPA, PIX, Cards | 2.8–4.8% | $0.20–0.50 | Daily USDT / USDC |
| Sports Betting — LATAM | Local rails, Cards | 2.6–4.4% | Local | T+1 fiat / daily USDT |
| iGaming — LATAM | SPEI, OXXO, PSE, MP, PagoEfectivo, Webpay | 2.8–4.5% | Local | T+1 fiat / daily USDT |
| Forex / CFD — India | UPI, Net Banking | 2.2–3.6% | ₹0–2 | T+1 INR / daily USDT |
| Sports Betting — Europe | SEPA, SEPA Instant, Cards | 2.2–3.8% | €0.15–0.30 | T+1 EUR / daily USDT |
These ranges are indicative, not guaranteed. Actual MDR is determined at underwriting. Ranges assume monthly volume of $250K–$10M, a documented sub-0.5% chargeback rate (or equivalent for new operators), and a recognised licence where applicable. Volumes above $10M/month routinely price below the lower bound; operators with unusual risk profiles may price above the upper bound. See our measurement methodology for how the bands were derived and how we refresh them.
No stripped-down "starter" tier. These are standard across every FalconPay merchant — from a $250K/month new operator to a $10M/month enterprise casino.
Pricing is transaction-based. What you process is what you pay for — nothing more. Below is our complete list of charges that are commonly bundled into other processors' pricing and that we do not add.
Tell us your industry, region, and volume. Our underwriting team replies with an indicative quote within 4 business hours, and a firm quote within 24 hours of full documentation.