# Tempo \[Stablecoin payments on the Tempo blockchain]
The [Tempo](https://docs.tempo.xyz) payment method enables payments using TIP-20 stablecoins on the Tempo blockchain. Tempo supports multiple intents—**charge** for one-time payments and **session** for pay-as-you-go payment channels—covering everything from simple API access to high-frequency metered billing.
## Payments on Tempo
Tempo is purpose-built for the payment patterns MPP enables:
* **Instant finality**—Transactions settle in ~500ms with deterministic confirmation, no probabilistic waiting
* **Sub-cent fees**—Transaction costs low enough for micropayments and per-request billing
* **Fee sponsorship**—Servers can pay gas fees on behalf of clients, removing wallet UX friction entirely
* **2D nonces**—Parallel nonce lanes let clients submit payment transactions without blocking other account activity
* **Payment lane**—Dedicated transaction ordering for payment channel operations, providing reliable channel management UX
* **High throughput**—Tempo's throughput handles the on-chain settlement and channel management volume that payment sessions generate at scale
## Choosing a payment method
| | **Charge** | **Session** Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| **Pattern** | One-time payment per request | Continuous pay-as-you-go |
| **Latency overhead** | ~500ms (on-chain confirmation) | Near-zero |
| **Throughput** | One transaction per request | Hundreds of vouchers per second per channel |
| **Best for** | Single API calls, content access, one-off purchases | LLM APIs, metered services, usage-based billing |
| **On-chain cost** | Per request (0.001 USD per request) | Amortized across many requests (0.001 USD total) |
| **Settlement** | Immediate on-chain transaction | Off-chain vouchers, periodic on-chain settlement |
## Intents
## Fee sponsorship
Tempo supports server-paid transaction fees for both charge and session intents. When enabled, the client signs only the payment authorization and the server covers gas costs. The client doesn't need to hold gas tokens or understand fee mechanics.
Pass a `feePayer` account to `tempo()` to enable this:
```ts twoslash
import { Mppx, tempo } from 'mppx/server'
import { privateKeyToAccount } from 'viem/accounts'
const mppx = Mppx.create({
methods: [tempo({
feePayer: privateKeyToAccount('0x…'), // [!code hl]
})],
})
```
It is also possible to point the `feePayer` to a fee service that supports the [`Handler.feePayer`](https://docs.tempo.xyz/sdk/typescript/server/handler.feePayer) endpoint:
```ts
import { Mppx, tempo } from 'mppx/server'
const mppx = Mppx.create({
methods: [tempo({
feePayer: 'https://sponsor.example.com', // [!code hl]
})],
})
```