Shopify Payments is the default — and the tax. Shopify charges 0.5-2% extra when you process on "any other gateway," which has kept most merchants locked in. multiflow is one of the processors Shopify has formally approved for zero-penalty processing through the Shopify Plus Certified Payment Gateway program. We migrate your vault, preserve Shop Pay Accelerated Checkout, and deliver interchange-plus pricing without the penalty.
On Shopify Payments today
On multiflow after migration
| What you pay for | Shopify Payments | multiflow |
|---|---|---|
| Online base rate | 2.9% + 30¢ | IC + 0.55% + 10¢ |
| In-person rate | 2.6% + 10¢ | IC + 0.30% + 10¢ |
| Alt-processor penalty | 2.0% (Basic) / 0.5% (Plus) | 0% (Certified) |
| International card surcharge | +1.5% | +0.80% |
| Currency conversion | +1.5-2.0% | +0.50% |
| Shop Pay availability | Yes (Shopify Payments only) | Yes (Certified Gateway) |
| Chargeback fee | $15 | $15 refunded on win |
| Monthly platform fee | $0 | $0 under $50k |
Flat-rate processors optimise for onboarding friction, not P&L. Every line above that reads "flat" on the left and "IC +" or "tiered" on the right is a line where multiflow returns margin that was previously opaque to you.
Shopify Admin → Settings → Payments inventory. We note your current gateway, alt-processor penalty rate (Basic vs Plus vs Advanced), Shop Pay enablement, and manual payment methods. Order + customer export runs through Shopify's bulk export (orders.csv, customers.csv).
Underwriting + MID assignment. Simultaneously, we submit the Shopify Plus Certified Gateway activation on your store — this takes 24-48 hours on Shopify's end and is required to avoid the alt-processor penalty.
Shopify + Stripe (who operates Shopify Payments under the hood) release the PaymentMethod fingerprints for your stored customer cards. We PCI-port via our partner CardX. Sandbox store gets multiflow wired as the payment gateway; you run 20 test orders.
Shopify Admin → Settings → Payments → Activate multiflow. Shopify Payments deactivates automatically (you can't run both simultaneously). Alt-processor penalty is nullified thanks to the day 1 Certified Gateway activation.
Shop Pay Express (the one-click checkout button) remains available because multiflow is a Certified Gateway. The vault behind Shop Pay continues to work — shoppers who previously used Shop Pay continue to see the one-click option on your store. This is the biggest single delta between Certified and non-Certified gateways.
Most Shopify merchants use Recharge, Bold, or Seal for subscriptions. Each has a one-click "swap gateway" option for Certified Gateways. Next-billing-date preserves. Customer cards re-authorize via the ported vault — zero customer re-entry.
Signifyd, NoFraud, and Kount continue working — they integrate at the Shopify app level, not the gateway level. Our fraud engine runs in parallel. Shopify's own Fraud Analysis still renders on each order. No changes needed.
If you run Shopify POS, we swap to multiflow-provisioned card readers (Clover Flex or PAX). Install is 15 min per location. Offline mode preserved. Inventory and order management continue through Shopify Admin — only the card rail changed.
Webhook consumers repoint. Shopify Payments goes to drain — existing active orders complete normally, refunds process through Shopify, disputes continue through Shopify's dispute UI for pre-cutover orders. Post-cutover disputes flow through multiflow.
Seven days, one operator ceremony per day, zero weekend overtime. Each step is reversible through day 30 — you do not fly one-way until the Shopify Payments drain window closes.
Everything below is yours under Shopify Payments's ToS. Export now, before underwriting opens — it's faster while you're still a customer in good standing.
Once you submit notice-of-migration, some processors throttle export API limits. You want these files in your S3 bucket before anyone at Shopify Payments knows you're leaving.
Shop Pay works only on Certified Gateways. This is the #1 reason most operators haven't already left Shopify Payments. multiflow's Shopify Plus Certification preserves Shop Pay, Apple Pay, and Google Pay one-click checkout. A non-certified gateway would kill these buttons and tank your conversion rate 15-30%.
Recurring app compatibility matrix. Recharge (all tiers): compatible. Bold Subscriptions: compatible with Bold v2 or later. Seal Subscriptions: compatible. Custom-built subscription apps: we verify on day 2 before committing to day 4 cutover.
Shopify Balance account. If you moved funds into Shopify Balance (Shopify's bank-account-like feature), those balances don't port. Move to your operating bank before cutover.
Shopify Capital. If you have an outstanding Shopify Capital advance, it draws from any residual Shopify Payments volume. You either pay it off early (no penalty for early repayment) or keep a small Shopify Payments fallback channel open.
Customer email on receipts. Shopify's order confirmation email references the original gateway. Post-migration, new orders reference multiflow. A one-time "your new processor" note in your order confirmation template reduces support tickets.
Rollback through day 14: toggle Shopify Payments back on (it becomes the default), multiflow deactivates. Alt-processor penalty re-applies to any gateway other than Shopify Payments going forward. Migrated subscriptions remain on multiflow unless you also cancel and recreate on Shopify Payments.
The friction on rollback is reinstating Shopify Capital eligibility — Shopify Capital requires Shopify Payments volume to underwrite. If your migration is driven by Shopify Capital availability rather than rate optimization, consider this before committing.
Shopify charges an extra percentage on every transaction if you use any processor other than Shopify Payments: 2.0% on Basic, 1.0% on Shopify, 0.5% on Advanced, 0.2% on Plus. For a $2M GMV Basic store, that's $40k/year just for using a non-Shopify rail. Shopify's goal is to keep you inside their payment ecosystem.
Two exemptions exist: you're in a country where Shopify Payments isn't available (some Caribbean and Middle East markets), or you're on a Shopify Plus Certified Payment Gateway. multiflow is a certified partner. We move you from 2% penalty to 0% while also cutting your base rate.
Shopify charges an extra percentage on every transaction if you use any processor other than Shopify Payments: 2.0% on Basic, 1.0% on Shopify, 0.5% on Advanced, 0.2% on Plus.
From the Shopify Payments migration field notesShopify Plus stores average $10-50M GMV. At that scale the 0.5% penalty is significant but the bigger issue is rate negotiation — Shopify Payments' rate card barely improves with volume. multiflow's IC+ pricing saves Plus operators typically 0.3-0.7% on blended effective rate. Combined with the eliminated 0.5% penalty, net savings land at 0.8-1.2% of GMV — $80k-$120k/yr per $10M processed.
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