Payment processing that keeps your studio running smoothly

Built for studios and wellness businesses

Fitness studios and wellness businesses deal with a mix of payment types: recurring monthly memberships, one-time class pack purchases, retail product sales, and drop-in fees. Each one has its own rules, and the recurring part needs the most care, because a charge a member didn't expect tends to end up as a dispute.

If your card processing came bundled with booking software, check whether it's a flat rate. A flat rate is simple, but it charges a member's debit card the same percentage as a premium rewards card. Once dues and retail add up, interchange-plus pricing, which passes each card's actual cost through with a disclosed markup, can cost less depending on your card mix and volume.

What rules apply to gym membership billing?

Card network rules, federal law and, in many places, a state health club law:

• Consent before storage. A member has to agree before you store their card for dues; Visa's stored credential framework makes that consent a condition of keeping the card.
• Debit cards. Members who pay by debit card fall under Regulation E: their authorization has to be signed or electronically authenticated, and if a charge will differ from the authorized amount, they're owed written notice 10 days ahead unless they agreed to a range. Pro-rated first months, annual fees and freeze fees all change the amount, so agree a range at sign-up.
• Online sign-ups. For members who join online, the FTC reads ROSCA as requiring three things, set out in its negative option policy statement: material terms disclosed before billing details are taken, express informed consent, and a simple way to cancel recurring charges. In August 2025 the FTC sued the operators of LA Fitness, alleging they made canceling exceedingly difficult; those are allegations, not court findings.
• State laws. California lets a buyer cancel a health studio contract before midnight of the fifth business day after signing, and its automatic renewal law, as amended by AB 2863, lets members who joined online cancel online for contracts from July 1, 2025. New York requires a health club contract to let the buyer cancel within three business days of receiving a copy.

These are the rules as of October 2026. Check your own state's law before you write a membership agreement; our guide to gym membership billing covers freezes, pro-rating and add-ons.

What does card processing cost a gym?

It depends on the cards your members carry. Dues charged to a stored card are taken without the card present, and Visa prices those sales higher than a tap at the desk. On Visa's US interchange schedule effective April 18, 2026, a Traditional Rewards card costs 2.04% plus 10 cents card-not-present and 1.65% plus 10 cents in person, while Regulation II caps a debit card from a large bank at 21 cents plus 0.05%, plus 1 cent, either way. On $49 dues, that's about $1.10 on the rewards card and 24 cents on the debit card. A flat rate makes no distinction between the two, while interchange-plus passes each through at cost with a disclosed markup, so you can see what your member mix really costs, and a free statement review shows where your money goes today.