NOWPayments review: 1% fees, but no US or UK merchants

NOWPayments fees: 1% or 1.5% plus network costs

NOWPayments takes 1% when a payment arrives in the same coin as the merchant’s wallet, and 1.5% for multi-currency payments, fixed-rate payments and payments where the customer covers the fee. Custom offers go as low as 0.3% for large volumes. The fee is deducted before the funds are credited and is never refunded. Reviews that still quote a 0.5% base fee are out of date.

Take a $19.99 monthly membership paid in USDT to a USDT wallet: NOWPayments keeps 1%, about 20 cents. If the member pays in bitcoin and the wallet is set to USDT, ChangeNOW swaps the coins and the conversion rate applies.

Network fees come on top. With direct payouts the merchant bears two of them, one into the NOWPayments deposit address and one out to the wallet. A custody balance cuts that to one, and withdrawals from it carry no service fee. NOWPayments can change its rates at any time, and advance notice is optional.

Who can open a NOWPayments account

The terms updated on 31 August 2026 exclude residents and citizens of the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United Arab Emirates, as well as anyone located in Russia. Those who sign up anyway do so at their own risk, and FD Transfers LLC may take steps to stop them. Merchants elsewhere must check their own local law.

The adult page promotes KYB-free crypto payments and anonymity for merchants and buyers. The terms still bar escort and prostitution sites, and let the company block an account without giving reasons if it carries content it deems obscene or objectionable.

Paying models and affiliates with mass payouts

Mass payouts send crypto to many recipients in one API call, for model earnings, affiliate commissions or cashback. They run from the custody balance, which must be activated and topped up first, with IP whitelisting required and two-factor authentication optional. The sender chooses whether the network fee comes out of the balance or out of each payment.

Custody is handled by a third-party provider that can delay or refuse a withdrawal it considers risky, and FD Transfers LLC takes no responsibility for it. Direct payouts to the merchant’s own wallet avoid that exposure.

Card payments and cashing out to fiat

Customers can pay by card on invoices and plug-ins: they pick USD at checkout and go through Mercuryo, which asks for an ID, a selfie and a phone number. That is friction on an adult purchase. On the merchant side, cash-out to euros goes by SEPA, only from a USDT balance on Tron, after the fiat provider’s business check: a company extract under three months old, proof of domain ownership and the director’s signing authority.

Does NOWPayments require KYC?

No for a merchant who stays in crypto, unless a transaction is flagged as suspicious. The payment is then held until the merchant sends an ID, proof of the source of funds and a selfie holding the ID and a note from support. Fiat, in or out, always requires verification.

Is NOWPayments legit?

NOWPayments is an established gateway, founded in 2019 by the team behind the ChangeNOW exchange, which still handles its swaps, and it publishes its fees and full terms. The contracting company is FD Transfers LLC, registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines at Euro House, Kingstown. No licence is cited, and custody, mass payouts and fiat withdrawals rely on third parties the terms do not name.

NOWPayments strengths and limitations