Example: $20,000 a month in card sales, 500 payments. Change the numbers below to yours.
Lowest published flat rate: Square, about $500 a month. Add your total fees to see your real rate and what you'd save.
See Square's full fees and catchesYour numbers
From last month's statement. Nothing you type is saved unless you choose to email yourself the results.
The same month at published rates
Estimate from each provider's in-person rate and listed monthly cost. Your real cost depends on your card mix and contract.
We may earn a fee if you sign up with some providers in these results. It never changes the prices we show or what we recommend.
SquareLowest here
2.5% per payment
$500/mo
2.7% + 5¢ per payment
$565/mo
2.6% per payment + $49/mo (Basic plan)
$569/mo
2.65% + 10¢ per payment + $40/mo (Terminal rental + software fee)
$620/mo
2.6% + 10¢ per payment + $139/mo (Retail Basic plan)
$709/mo
We may earn a fee if you sign up with some providers in these results. It never changes the prices we show or what we recommend.
Interchange-plus providers
These publish only their markup on top of the card networks' own fees (interchange), so the total depends on which cards your customers use. They can beat flat rates for larger, steady businesses, depending on your card mix. Ask for a quote and compare it with the rate above.
- Helcim: interchange + 0.4% + 8¢ in person
- Clearly Payments: interchange + 0.38% + 8¢ in person
Keep this result
Online and phone payments only, so not priced against an in-person month: Merchant-Accounts.ca (2.5% + 30¢ online).
Quote only (no published rates): Clover, TouchBistro, Global Payments, Chase. Your own rate is the number to beat.
How to find your numbers on a statement
Every provider lays out its statement differently, but you’re looking for the same three things.
- Card sales. The total value of card payments for the month. It may be called “gross sales,” “total volume” or “amount processed.” Use the total before fees come off.
- Number of card payments. Sometimes called “transactions,” “count” or “items.” This matters because many providers charge a fixed fee per payment, like Moneris’s 10¢ or Stripe’s 5¢ in person.
- Total fees. Add up every fee, not only the processing rate. Include monthly fees, terminal rental, statement fees, chargebacks and anything labelled “other.” If your provider takes fees out of each deposit, you may need to add them up from your deposit reports.
If you can’t find one of these, call your provider and ask for “total fees and total volume for last month.” They should be able to tell you.
How to read your result
Your real rate is total fees divided by card sales. If you paid $640 on $20,000 in card sales, that’s 3.2%. This is the number to compare, because it includes everything.
If you take most payments in person and your rate is well above the published rates in the list, look closely at your monthly, rental and per-transaction fees.
The comparison list shows what your same month would cost at each provider’s published in-person rate, plus the monthly fee named beside it. Square and Stripe list no monthly fee. Tap a name for that provider’s full fees and catches.
“Less than now” means the estimate is lower than the fees you entered. It’s a starting point, not a promise. Your actual cost depends on your mix of cards and payment types.
What the calculator doesn’t include
So you know where the estimate could be off:
- Debit. Every payment is priced at the credit card rate. Debit is usually cheaper at flat-fee providers: 9¢ at Helcim, 12¢ at Moneris, 15¢ at Stripe and Shopify. Square charges 0.75% + 7¢. If many customers pay by debit, the estimates will usually run high.
- Online and keyed-in payments. These cost more. Square charges 2.8% + 30¢ online and Stripe 2.9% + 30¢.
- Foreign cards. Square adds 1.5% on cards issued outside Canada. Stripe charges 3.5% + 5¢ in person for international cards.
- Chargebacks and hardware. One-off costs aren’t counted.
The interchange-plus caveat
Helcim and Clearly Payments use interchange-plus pricing. You pay the card networks’ fee (interchange) plus a published markup. The calculator can’t total these honestly without knowing your card mix, so it lists their markups instead:
- Helcim: interchange + 0.40% + 8¢ in person, for up to $50,000 a month, with lower markups above that. No monthly fee.
- Clearly Payments: interchange + 0.38% + 8¢ in person, with published tiers starting at $150,000 a year in card sales. Terminal rental is extra.
Don’t compare those markups to a flat rate. They’re only part of the price. Helcim says most of its merchants end up with a total in-person rate “near or below 2%.” That’s Helcim’s claim, not ours. The fair test is to send a recent statement to an interchange-plus provider, ask for a written quote, and compare it with your rate.
Next steps
- Comparing processors? See every Canadian processor side by side.
- Need software too? See POS systems compared.
- Want the details on one provider? Read our pages on Square, Helcim, Moneris, Stripe, Clearly Payments and Merchant-Accounts.ca.
- How we get these numbers: how we verify prices.
Get told when these prices change
Providers change fees with little notice. We email you what changed when a price here does, and nothing else.
Common questions
How do I calculate my credit card processing rate?
Add up every fee on your monthly statement, then divide by your total card sales for the same month. Multiply by 100 to get a percentage. If you paid $640 in fees on $20,000 in card sales, your effective rate is 3.2%. That one number lets you compare any provider, however its statement is laid out.
Why doesn't the calculator show a total for Helcim or Clearly Payments?
They use interchange-plus pricing and publish only their markup, such as Helcim's 0.40% + 8¢ in person. Your total also includes interchange, which depends on the cards your customers use. Without your card mix we can't give an honest total, so we show the markup and suggest you ask for a quote.
Is the calculator's estimate what I'll actually pay?
No, it's an estimate. It prices every payment at each provider's published in-person credit card rate and adds the listed monthly fee. It doesn't separate debit, online, Amex or foreign cards, chargebacks, or hardware. Treat it as a fair first comparison, then check the real quote or the provider's full pricing page.
Where do the calculator's rates come from?
From each provider's own Canadian pricing page, checked on the date shown at the top of this page. We don't use sales quotes, other review sites or memory. Providers that only quote by business, like Clover, are listed as quote only instead of being given a guessed rate. Our verification page explains the method.