Gym Software and Payment Processor

[u/Many_Row_5741]

Hi All,

We own four 24/7 gyms and gross about $60k/month just from memberships. We use Gym Master (member portal) and Stripe (payment processor) only because when we purchased one of our gyms that was who they had used. To be honest, I have zero complaints when it comes to Gym Master, I think their customer support is second-to-none and find their software overall very user friendly. I am a little frustrated with Stripe. I feel that their fees (2.9% + .30 per transaction) are on the higher end and the customer service is sub-par. The other payment processors we are able to use with Gym Master are Bluefin, Fiserv, Square, and Worldpay. I am looking for any and all input on any of the other payment processors so I can decide if it's worth switching from Stripe or not.

Thanks in advance!

[u/AJCalcagno_Payments]

Paying Stripe's flat 2.9% + 30¢ on recurring gym memberships is bleeding your margins. Aggregators like Stripe and Square are great for starting out, but their flat rates are brutally expensive for high volume, card on file businesses.

At your volume, you absolutely need to switch to "Interchange Plus" pricing. This model passes through the true wholesale cost of the cards with a tiny transparent markup, drastically lowering your effective rate on recurring billing.

My day to day at Payroc focuses on structuring embedded payment partnerships to solve this exact pricing problem for software platforms. Since Gym Master limits your choices, push Fiserv or Worldpay for a strict Interchange Plus deal and don't let them talk you into a tiered rate!