Fees explained
Every line on your statement, in plain words.
This section explains the charges on a card processing statement, one fee at a time. It is written for owners and managers of small and mid-size businesses in Canada and the United States who want to know what each line means and where the money goes.
A card fee has three main parts. Interchange goes to the customer's bank. Network fees go to the card networks, such as Visa and Mastercard. The processor's markup is the part your processor sets and keeps. How those parts show up on a statement depends on the pricing model: flat rate, interchange plus, tiered or, in Canada, differential.
The place to start is What Is Interchange?, which covers the wholesale part of every card fee. Flat Rate vs Interchange Plus vs Tiered puts the pricing models side by side, and How to Read Your Merchant Statement shows where each part sits on a bill. The other pages cover single fees, such as chargebacks, PCI fees, monthly fees and early termination fees. Plain-English meanings of the terms are in the glossary.
How Much Does It Cost to Accept Credit Cards in Canada?
What goes into the total cost of taking cards in Canada: interchange, network fees, processor markup, monthly fees and equipment, with published examples.
Payment Processor vs Merchant Account: What's the Difference?
Payment facilitator vs payment processor vs merchant account: who signs you up, who holds the money, and where Stripe, Helcim and TD fit, from their own terms.
What Is Interchange? A Plain-English Guide
The wholesale cost of accepting a card: who gets it, who sets it, why it changes from card to card, and where it shows up on your statement.
Assessment Fees Explained
The small fee card networks charge on every sale, apart from interchange: the amounts TD lists for each network in Canada, and where they show on a statement.
Why Business and Corporate Cards Cost More to Accept
Visa's Canadian and US rate sheets list higher interchange for business, corporate and purchasing cards than for most consumer cards. The rates, side by side.
Processor Markup: What It Is and Where to Find It
The markup is the part of your card fees your processor keeps: what it is, where it shows on each pricing model, and how it is worked out from a statement.
Flat Rate vs Interchange Plus vs Tiered
Flat rate, interchange plus, tiered and Canada's differential model side by side: how each works, how it behaves at different sale sizes, and how to spot yours.
What Is Interchange Plus Pricing?
Interchange plus shows the wholesale cost of a card sale and the processor's markup as two numbers: how it works, how to read it, and how it compares.
Tiered Pricing Explained
What qualified, mid-qualified and non-qualified mean on a card statement, where the words come from, and how Canada's differential model compares.
PCI Fees and Non-Compliance Fees
What PCI DSS is, what a PCI fee on your statement is, and the card network non-compliance fees that show up on Canadian statements.
Chargeback Fees: What a Chargeback Costs and How It Works
What a chargeback fee is and how much TD, Helcim and Square charge, plus how a card dispute runs, Visa's time limits and the evidence asked for.
Statement and Monthly Fees
Charges that arrive every month whatever you sell: monthly service fees, minimums, statement and plan fees, with examples from TD, Helcim, Square and Stripe.
Early Termination Fees: How They Work
What leaving a card processing contract early can cost in Canada, how the fee is worked out, and when published contracts say there is no fee.
Equipment Leases: How They Work and What They Cost
Card terminal costs in Canada to rent, lease or buy: Square lists its Terminal at $399, Helcim its Card Reader at $239. TD shows rentals at $25 and $35 a month.
Per-Transaction Fees: Why Small Sales Cost More
The cents charged on every card sale by processors and card networks in Canada and the US, with published examples, and how sale size changes their cost.
Payment Gateway Fees: What a Gateway Costs Online
What payment gateway charges are, how much a gateway costs for a website at Stripe, Square, Helcim and TD, and the card fees that apply only online.
Amex Merchant Fees in Canada: What Processors Publish
Amex merchant fees in Canada: American Express does not publish its own merchant rates. What TD, Helcim, Square and Stripe publish for Amex, side by side.
How to Read Your Merchant Statement
Four things a card processing statement shows, whatever your provider calls them: what you sold, what was taken off, what made it up, and your effective rate.
Mastercard's New NABU Fee in Canada
NABU is a Mastercard network fee. On October 19, 2026, it replaced Mastercard's acquirer clearing fees in Canada, per TD. TD lists $0.0315 per domestic sale.
Tips and Pre-Authorizations: How Card Holds Work
What a pre-authorization is, how long holds last at Square and Stripe, what Visa's rules say about estimated amounts, and how tips are added and charged.
Card on File and Recurring Payments
What card on file means, the consent Visa's rules ask for before a card is stored, notice before a free trial ends, and Square, Helcim and Stripe's fees.
Visa's Small Merchant Rates in Canada
Visa Canada's Small Merchant interchange program: who qualifies, the published rates, and the changes TD lists from October 22, 2026, with a higher sales limit.
Foreign Card Fees: What You Pay on Cards From Other Countries
Cards from other countries carry extra network fees. The Visa cross-border fee and Mastercard's, as TD lists them, and what Helcim and Square publish.
When You Get Paid: Deposits, Holds and Reserves
How long card sales take to reach the bank at Square, Stripe, Helcim and TD in Canada, what a reserve is, and why processors say they hold funds.
Getting Approved for a Merchant Account: What Processors Ask For
What Stripe, Square, Helcim and TD ask for when a business signs up in Canada, what they check, and how holds, reserves and first-payout delays fit in.