Caravel Pay: accept cards, get paid in USDC on Polygon

Setup

Three steps.
That's the whole setup.

Connect your store, paste the wallet you want paid to, and start taking cards. If you can copy an address, you can run Caravel Pay.

Connect your store

Install the WooCommerce plugin, or make one API call from your own site. No integration project.
Paste your wallet

Any Polygon address you control. Every payout goes there, automatically.
Take cards

Your checkout is live. The first payment pays you out like every one after it.

Integrations

Plug into the store you already run.

Every integration ends the same way: one field, your wallet address.

Available now

WooCommerce

Upload the plugin, activate it, and paste your wallet under Payments. A signed webhook marks each order paid when the USDC lands.

Download plugin Install guide

WooCommerce › Settings › Payments › Caravel Pay

Enable: Accept cards with Caravel Pay
Payout wallet: 0x9f41d7c2b5e0…d4c81a73c2
USDC on Polygon. Payouts go here automatically.
Title: Card, Apple Pay or Google Pay
Save: Save changes

Order #1042Processing

Caravel Pay: paid. 133.68 USDC sent to 0x9f…3c2, tx 0x5d1e…a07b

API

Any platform via the API

Custom site, app or headless shop: create a checkout, redirect the buyer, get a signed webhook when it's paid.

API reference

POST /v1/checkouts
{ "order_id": "1042", "amount": "136.41" }
201  checkout_url → send the buyer here

POST your callback_url
{ "type": "checkout.paid", "data": { … } }

More plugins are on the way. Tell us what your store runs on; it helps decide what we build next.

Tell us yours

How a payment moves

Your buyer taps a card.
You get USDC.

The buyer never touches crypto, and you never wait on a payout schedule.

Buyer pays

Card, Apple Pay or Google Pay on the hosted checkout. The buyer pays the card provider's fee there.

$136.41 + the provider's fee
awaiting_payment
Card becomes USDC

The card provider charges the card and delivers USDC on Polygon to the checkout.

136.41 USDC on Polygon
confirming
Paid to your wallet

Once the transfer confirms, the payment minus our 2% fee is sent to your wallet automatically.

133.68 USDC to you · 2.73 Caravel fee
paid
Your store knows

A signed checkout.paid webhook updates the order, with the payout's transaction hash.

Order #1042 → Processing
webhook · 200 OK

API

One call to take a payment.

Create a checkout, send the buyer to its URL, listen for the webhook. Plain JSON over HTTPS, signed with HMAC-SHA256.

Safe to retry. The same order_id always returns the same checkout.
Signed both ways. Requests and webhooks carry a timestamped signature.
Six plain statuses, from awaiting_payment to paid.
Webhooks that keep trying. Retried with backoff for up to 24 hours until you answer 2xx.

Read the docs Request signing

# Sign "timestamp\nMETHOD\npath\nbody" with your secret
BODY='{"order_id":"1042","amount":"136.41","currency":"USD","return_url":"https://shop.example/thanks","cancel_url":"https://shop.example/cart","callback_url":"https://shop.example/webhooks/caravel"}'
TS=$(date +%s)
SIG=$(printf '%s\n%s\n%s\n%s' "$TS" POST /v1/checkouts "$BODY" \
  | openssl dgst -sha256 -hmac "$CARAVEL_SECRET" | awk '{print $NF}')

curl https://api.caravelpay.app/v1/checkouts \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Caravel-Merchant: $CARAVEL_MERCHANT" \
  -H "Caravel-Timestamp: $TS" \
  -H "Caravel-Signature: $SIG" \
  --data-binary "$BODY"

// caravel() signs each request; it's 20 lines, see the docs
const checkout = await caravel("POST", "/v1/checkouts", {
  order_id: "1042",
  amount: "136.41",
  currency: "USD",
  return_url: "https://shop.example/thanks",
  cancel_url: "https://shop.example/cart",
  callback_url: "https://shop.example/webhooks/caravel",
});

// Send the buyer to the hosted checkout
res.redirect(303, checkout.checkout_url);

// caravel() signs each request; it's 25 lines, see the docs
$checkout = caravel('POST', '/v1/checkouts', [
    'order_id'     => '1042',
    'amount'       => '136.41',
    'currency'     => 'USD',
    'return_url'   => 'https://shop.example/thanks',
    'cancel_url'   => 'https://shop.example/cart',
    'callback_url' => 'https://shop.example/webhooks/caravel',
]);

// Send the buyer to the hosted checkout
header('Location: ' . $checkout['checkout_url'], true, 303);

# caravel() signs each request; it's 20 lines, see the docs
checkout = caravel("POST", "/v1/checkouts", {
    "order_id": "1042",
    "amount": "136.41",
    "currency": "USD",
    "return_url": "https://shop.example/thanks",
    "cancel_url": "https://shop.example/cart",
    "callback_url": "https://shop.example/webhooks/caravel",
})

# Send the buyer to the hosted checkout
return redirect(checkout["checkout_url"], code=303)

201 Created · application/json

{
  "id": "chk_8Qe2TnV4kR",
  "checkout_url": "https://pay.caravelpay.app/c/chk_8Qe2TnV4kR",
  "status": "awaiting_payment",
  "amount": "136.41",
  "currency": "USD",
  "expires_at": "2026-11-09T15:04:12Z"
}

Pricing

2%Caravel fee

Our fee, on every payment and every method, Apple Pay and Google Pay included. No monthly fee. No setup fee.

2%Caravel fee: Taken from each payment before it reaches your wallet. Polygon gas for your payout is covered by it.
+ feeCard provider's fee: Paid by the buyer, on top of the order, and shown to them before they pay. The card provider sets it: it varies with provider, method and country. Public tariffs run from about 2% to 5.5%, and small orders can hit a minimum. Caravel never adds to it or takes a cut of it.

Start accepting

Drag your monthly sales

$10,000/ month

You keep

9,800 USDC Caravel fee (2%): $200

Caravel Pay, 2% on every method you keep $9,800

PayGate, about 3.5% on average (estimate) you keep ~$9,650

PayGate's 5% Apple Pay/Google Pay tier you keep $9,500

With Caravel you keep about $150 a month more than PayGate's estimated average, and $300 more than on its Apple Pay and Google Pay routes ($3,600 a year).

Bars: what you keep (dark) and the platform fee (amber). Platform fees only: in both cases the buyer pays the card provider's fee on top. PayGate's tiers as published by PayGate, 9 Nov 2026; the 3.5% average is our estimate from public blockchain data, July–September 2026 (how we estimated).

Worked example

Order total: $100.00
Buyer pays: $100.00 + the card provider's fee
Caravel fee (2%): −2.00 USDC
You receive: 98.00 USDC

The provider's fee never comes out of your payout, and nothing else does either.

Hosted checkout with card, Apple Pay and Google Pay
Automatic USDC payouts to your own wallet
WooCommerce plugin and the full API
Signed webhooks, retried for up to 24 hours
USDC.e and POL paid out as sent, never swapped

How the fees compare

Service	Platform fee	Card provider's fee
Caravel Pay	2% on every method, Apple Pay and Google Pay included	Paid by the buyer, on top of the order, shown before they pay
PayGate¹	2% on most routes 3% on Coinbase, Blockchain.com and Cash App 5% on Apple Pay, Google Pay and credit cardAbout 3.5% on average in practice: our estimate²	Paid by the buyer, on top, on every route (listed as “+ Provider”)

As published by PayGate, 9 Nov 2026: public provider list.
Our estimate from public blockchain data, July–September 2026, not a published rate: how we estimated.

Why a caravel

A small ship that changed who could trade.

In the fifteenth century, Portuguese shipwrights built the caravel. Its lateen sails could work into a headwind that kept heavier square-riggers in port. A small crew, a shallow draft, and coastlines nobody else could reach.

Caravel Pay is built on the same idea. Card rails on one shore, open chains on the other, and a hull light enough to cross between them. Every integration ends the same way: one field, your wallet address.

Your buyers pay the way they always have. You receive dollars in a wallet only you control, without waiting on anyone's payout calendar.

Sail against the wind.

Windward
Built for merchants the old processors leave on the dock.
Shallow draft
A plugin or one API call. Nothing heavier.
Your cargo
Paid out automatically to your wallet. No balance to withdraw.

FAQ

Good questions.

Straight answers. If yours isn't here, ask us.

Email

hello@caravelpay.app

Developers

Read the docs

What does it cost?

Our fee is 2% of each payment, on every method. There is no monthly fee and no setup fee, and Polygon gas for your payout is covered by the 2%.

Your buyer pays the card provider's own fee in the hosted checkout. It is shown to them before they confirm, and it never comes out of your payout.

When do I get paid?

Automatically, as soon as the payment confirms on Polygon. There is no payout schedule, no minimum and nothing to withdraw. How long confirmation takes depends on the card provider and the network.

How do I connect my store?

Save your wallet in the WooCommerce plugin and it connects your store for you. On any other platform, make one API call with your site and wallet, and you get your keys back. No account, no forms.

To change your payout wallet or get a new secret, just connect again. Every payout is on Polygon for anyone to check, and the API lists your checkouts whenever you need them.

Which wallets can I use?

Any ordinary Polygon address you control: a self-custody wallet such as MetaMask, Rabby or a hardware wallet works well. Smart-contract wallets can't be used for payouts.

If you paste an exchange deposit address, check that the exchange accepts USDC on the Polygon network. Transfers to an address that can't receive them can't be reversed.

Do my buyers need crypto?

No. They pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Buyers who already hold crypto can also pay in USDC, USDC.e or POL on Polygon.

Who handles refunds and chargebacks?

You do. Payouts are final on-chain transfers to your wallet, so Caravel Pay can't pull money back. Refunds and chargebacks are the merchant's responsibility: refund buyers directly, and keep order and delivery records in case a card provider asks for them.

Which countries can buyers pay from?

It depends on the card provider. Card, Apple Pay and Google Pay availability varies by the buyer's country and the provider's own rules, and the checkout only shows options that buyer can use.

What if a buyer sends the wrong token or too little?

USDC, USDC.e and POL on Polygon are all credited and paid out in the token that arrived, never swapped. If less than the order total arrives, the checkout is marked underpaid and your store is told, so nothing ships by mistake.

Other tokens, or payments on other networks, can't be credited automatically. The checkout goes to review; contact us with the transaction hash and we'll look into it, though recovery isn't always possible.

Paste a wallet.
Take cards.

Three steps.
That's the whole setup.

Connect your store

Paste your wallet

Take cards

Plug into the store you already run.

WooCommerce

Any platform via the API

More platforms

Your buyer taps a card.
You get USDC.

Buyer pays

Card becomes USDC

Paid to your wallet

Your store knows

One call to take a payment.

2%Caravel fee

How the fees compare

A small ship that changed who could trade.

Windward

Shallow draft

Your cargo

Good questions.

Start taking cards
today.

Three steps.That's the whole setup.

Connect your store

Paste your wallet

Take cards

Plug into the store you already run.

WooCommerce

Any platform via the API

More platforms

Your buyer taps a card.You get USDC.

Buyer pays

Card becomes USDC

Paid to your wallet

Your store knows

One call to take a payment.

2%Caravel fee

How the fees compare

A small ship that changed who could trade.

Windward

Shallow draft

Your cargo

Good questions.

Start taking cardstoday.

Three steps.
That's the whole setup.

Your buyer taps a card.
You get USDC.

Start taking cards
today.