Statement decoder

The part of the fee that goes to the bank that issued your customer the card.

Interchange is the wholesale cost of accepting a card. It is paid by your processor to your customer's bank, and the card networks publish the rates. Visa Canada's rate sheet says its rates apply where the banks involved have not set their own terms. It changes with the card: on that sheet, a basic Classic card costs less in person than a premium Infinite Privilege card.

Good to know: Interchange is published by the card networks, not set by your processor. The markup on top of it is set by your processor.

A small cut the card network itself takes on every sale.

Separate from interchange. Interchange goes to the customer's bank; assessments go to the card network itself. TD's fee list, for example, shows Visa and Mastercard assessment fees, "assessed on all" of that network's transactions.

Good to know: On interchange plus statements it usually appears as its own line. On flat-rate statements it is included in the one combined rate.

Charged when your customer's card was issued in another country.

Charged by the card networks when the card and the business are in different countries. TD's fee list shows these for sales in Canadian dollars and in other currencies.

The charge for Canadian debit through Interac.

Interac is Canada's own debit network. At the network level its fees are small flat amounts per sale. What you pay depends on your processor: some charge a flat amount (Helcim lists 9 cents for chip and PIN), others a percentage plus cents (Square Canada's help article lists 0.75% + 7 cents).

Good to know: See Interac Debit: How It Is Priced for the network tiers and examples.

A Mastercard network fee.

TD's Fee Change Summary lists the Acquirer Network Access and Brand Usage (NABU) fee as starting in Canada on October 19, 2026, replacing Mastercard's acquirer clearing fees on domestic and cross-border transactions.

What your processor adds on top of the wholesale costs. It is the part each processor sets.

On an interchange plus statement this is shown as its own line, usually a percentage plus a few cents per sale. On flat-rate or tiered pricing it is not shown separately: it sits inside the combined rate.

Good to know: This is the part of the fee that differs from one processor to another. The wholesale card costs are set by the card networks.

The percentage taken out of each sale. Nothing to do with discounts for customers.

A name for the main percentage fee. Visa Canada's rate sheet says merchants pay a "merchant discount fee" to their acquirer, which can cover a variety of processing services.

On tiered pricing, the bucket with the lowest percentage.

Tiered pricing sorts every sale into qualified, mid-qualified or non-qualified buckets. Your processor sets the rules for which sales land where. Seeing this word on your statement means you are on tiered pricing.

Good to know: Your statement shows how many sales landed in each bucket. The qualified rate applies only to the sales in this bucket.

The middle bucket on tiered pricing. Costs more than qualified.

Which sales land here is set by your processor's own rules, not by the card networks. Your agreement or pricing schedule should say which sales go in each bucket.

The bucket with the highest percentage on tiered pricing.

Which sales land here is set by your processor's rules. The share of your sales in this bucket affects your total, because this bucket carries the highest rate.

Good to know: Your statement shows what share of your sales landed in this bucket. The more sales land here, the higher the total.

A sale that got moved into a more expensive category than you expected.

Visa's Canadian rate sheet has a "Standard" rate that it calls the default for sales that do not qualify for any other rate program, and says these are typically card-not-present. TD's sample flat-rate statement also shows an extra "non-electronic standard rate" on some sales.

Good to know: Your processor's pricing rules decide which sales are downgraded. The rules are usually in the pricing schedule of your agreement.

A few cents charged every time a card is checked, whether the sale goes through or not.

Charged on the authorization, which is the check that happens before a sale is approved. Card networks can also charge for repeated attempts: TD's fee list shows Visa and Mastercard fees for retrying a declined card.

Good to know: The monthly total is the fee times the number of authorizations on your statement. On small sales, a fixed per-sale fee is a larger share of each sale.

Charged each time you close out the day and send your sales for payment.

Usually once a day per terminal. TD's fee list, for example, describes its batch close fee as charged "per first batch closed per terminal per day".

Good to know: Each terminal usually sends its own batch, so the monthly total is the fee times the number of batches.

A small charge for checking a customer's billing address on a card-not-present sale.

Used on phone and online orders. Charged per check, according to your fee schedule.

A flat monthly charge for producing your statement.

Charged whether you accept one sale or a thousand. TD's fee list, for example, shows a monthly paper statement fee. Helcim's pricing page says it charges no statement fees.

Good to know: It is listed in the fee schedule of your agreement, usually as a fixed monthly amount.

If your fees for the month come to less than a set amount, you are topped up to it.

It applies month by month, so it matters most in quiet months. TD's fee list, for example, includes a "Minimum Monthly Discount Fee" per location.

A charge tied to the card industry security rules that every business taking cards has to follow.

PCI DSS is the card industry's data security standard, published by the PCI Security Standards Council. The fee your processor charges is a separate thing that the processor sets. TD's fee list shows a quarterly PCI fee; Helcim's pricing page shows a PCI fee of $0.

Good to know: Your agreement or fee schedule describes what the fee covers, for example a scanning service or only the compliance paperwork.

A charge some processors add when your PCI security paperwork is not up to date.

How this works, and when it stops, is set in your processor's terms. Card networks also charge their own "non-compliance" fees for other rule breaks, such as retrying a declined card. See PCI Fees and Non-Compliance Fees.

Good to know: It is charged while the security questionnaire is out of date. Your processor's terms say when it stops.

A monthly charge for the software that carries online card payments.

Applies to online and keyed-in phone orders. It can be billed by your processor or by a separate company.

Good to know: How it is billed is set in your fee schedule.

A once-a-year charge.

It only appears on one statement out of twelve, so it is easy to miss.

Good to know: Annual fees repeat on a schedule, so they usually appear in the same month each year.

Charged when a customer disputes a sale and their bank claws the money back.

Whether you pay the fee if you win depends on your provider. Helcim's fee disclosure, for example, says its chargeback fee is refunded if the case is resolved in your favour. TD's fee list shows a fee per chargeback or adjustment.

Good to know: Disputes are decided on the evidence the business sends, such as receipts and proof of delivery.

Charged when a customer's bank asks for a copy of a receipt.

A request for a copy of the sale record, which can come before a full chargeback.

Money your processor holds back from your deposits as protection against future refunds.

Your agreement sets when a reserve can be held and when it is released. Helcim's terms, for example, say it may hold a reserve and keep one for at least six months after an account closes. TD's terms say TD may hold back funds for 180 days after termination.

Good to know: The release schedule, meaning when held money is paid out, is set in your agreement.

A monthly charge for the card machine itself.

Rental terms are set in your agreement. TD's terms, for example, say rental fees are shown on the Fee Schedule, the full fee is charged in the first and last month, and TD keeps ownership.

Good to know: Dividing the purchase price of the same terminal by the monthly rental shows how many months of rental add up to buying it.

A fixed-term contract to pay for your card machine.

A lease is its own contract, separate from renting from your processor. The lease sets its end date, whether it renews, and what happens if you change processor. See Equipment Leases: How They Work and What They Cost.

Good to know: The lease paperwork shows the end date and whether it renews automatically.

A monthly charge for the mobile data connection in a portable terminal.

Applies to terminals with their own mobile data. Helcim's fee disclosure, for example, lists a monthly mobile data service fee.

Good to know: It is billed for the mobile data connection in a portable terminal, as set in your agreement.

A charge for leaving before your contract ends.

It can be a flat amount or grow with the time left. TD's fee list, for example, shows $300 per location, or $20 per terminal for each month left in the term. Some providers have none: Helcim's terms say there are no penalties for termination.

Good to know: The amount, or how it is worked out, is set in your agreement.

Charged when a sale is converted between currencies.

Dynamic currency conversion, where the terminal offers the customer their home currency, is a related but separate service.

An extra amount added to the customer's bill when they pay by credit card.

In Canada, Visa's rules cap a credit card surcharge at 2.4% or the merchant's own average rate, and Quebec's consumer protection office says a merchant cannot charge fees when a customer pays with a debit or credit card. In the US, Visa's rules cap it at 3.00%, subject to state law. In both, Visa does not allow surcharges on debit.

Good to know: See Surcharging Credit Cards in Canada, and card processing in the United States.

A lower price for paying with cash or another method, rather than a fee added for cards.

TD's terms, for example, describe a "Discount" as a price lower than the posted price when the customer uses cash or another form of payment. A surcharge is the other way round: a fee added for paying by card.

Good to know: Card network rules treat cash discounting and surcharging differently.

A charge for getting your money sooner than the standard schedule.

Square Canada's help article, for example, lists an instant transfer fee of 1.95% of the transfer amount, and no fee for standard transfers. Helcim's pricing page lists next-business-morning deposits at no charge.

Good to know: It is charged each time money is paid out early, so the monthly total depends on how often it is used.

A charge for safely storing a saved card so you can bill it again later.

Used for subscriptions, memberships and anywhere you keep a card on file. How it is charged is set in your fee schedule.