Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Ecommerce Hosting & Discussion : Merchant providers that provide service in Canada

[writespeak]

I've spent some time looking through the archives here to find the options for people with a web-based business in Canada. Here's a summary of what I've found, listed in order of startup costs and monthly fees. The ones near the top of the list have better rates for those starting out (with low volume), while the ones further down look better for established merchants. If I missed anyone, please post the details in this thread.

Disclaimer: some of the info below is from websites and some is from emails. I don't represent any of the companies. The pricing and other info listed is correct AFAIK, but if there are any errors, sorry. Do your own checking to confirm details. I've listed pricing only; to get opinions about these companies, search this forum.

PayPal

No setup or monthly fees
Can receive funds in various currencies
Eff. Aug. 6, for monthly volume up to $3000 Cdn, rates are:
- 2.9% + $0.55 CAD from Canadian buyers
- 2.9% + $0.30 USD from US buyers
- 3.9% + $0.30 USD from non-Canadian, non-US buyers

Rates go down with higher volume. Not included in the above are the currency exchange fees. IIRC they're higher than banks charge, and you can't move non-Canadian funds out of PayPal into a Canadian funds bank account until you've converted the funds, at the PayPal rate.

Disadvantages of PayPal are that in some countries, buyers have to set up a PayPal account to send money via PayPal, and the perception exists among some people that a business is less legit if they use only PayPal to receive funds.


2checkout.com

Setup fee $49 US
No monthly fee
Transaction fee $0.45
Discount rate 5.5%
No other fees


Canadian Merchant Solutions

Accepts funds in US$, CDN$, GBP or Euro

Plan A

Setup fee $99 (currency not specified)
No monthly fee
Transaction fee $1.00
Discount rate 3.95%
Rolling reserve 5%

Plan B

Setup fee $99 (currency not specified)
No monthly fee
Transaction fee $0.45
Discount rate 5.5%
Rolling reserve 5%


PSI Gate

Plan 1

Setup fee $99 Cdn
Monthly fee $29.95 Cdn
Transaction fee $0.45 Cdn
Discount rate 3.95%

Plan 2

Setup fee $199 Cdn
Monthly fee $44.95 Cdn
Transaction fee $0.29 Cdn
Discount rate 3.49%


Digitally Justified Technologies

Plan A (for receiving Canadian funds only)

Setup fee $199 Cdn
Monthly fee $44.95 Cdn
Transaction fee $0.29 Cdn
Discount rate 3.49%

Plan B (for receiving Canadian funds only)

Setup fee $99 Cdn
Monthly fee $29.95 Cdn
Transaction fee $0.45 Cdn
Discount rate 3.95%

Dual Currency Plan A

Setup fee $299 Cdn
Monthly fee $54.95 Cdn
Transaction fee $0.29 Cdn
Discount rate 3.49%

Dual Currency Plan B

Setup fee $199 Cdn
Monthly fee $39.95 Cdn
Transaction fee $0.45 Cdn
Discount rate 3.49%


Internet Secure

Sales Booster - Premier

Setup fee $99 Cdn (usu $199)
Monthly fee $69 Cdn
Transaction fee $0.45 Cdn funds, $0.75 US funds
Discount rate 3.75% except 4% Amex

Sales Booster Plus

Setup fee $99 Cdn (usu $199)
Monthly fee $49 Cdn
Transaction fee $1 Cdn funds, $1.25 US funds
Discount rate 4% except 4.5% Amex

A La Carte Pricing

Setup fee $99-$199 Cdn or US
Monthly fee $25-$45 +
Transaction fee $0.45- $1.50
Discount rate 3.75%-9%


Cartika Internet Solution Providers

Setup fee $199
Monthly fee $49.99
Transaction fee $0.35
Discount rate 3.75%


Moneris (E-Select Plus)

They wanted to give me their rates by phone rather than email for confidentiality reasons, and they had a long confidentiality clause at the end of each email, so I won't post their rates here. The summary is that their startup and monthly costs are higher than most listed here, but their transaction fees and discount rates are at the low end.

They're associated with the Royal Bank and the Bank of Montreal.


WorldPay

Setup fee $500 CAD
Monthly fee $30 CAD
Single currency transaction fee $0.60 CAD
Single currency discount rate 2.85%
Multi currency transaction fee $0.60 CAD
Multi currency discount rate 4.5%


Cardservice International

Transaction fee $0.30-$0.55
Discount rate 3.25%-5.25%
I couldn't find their setup and monthly fees even by email; they wanted me to fill out a pre-application form just to find out what their rates are, which I didn't do.

-----

Lois

[demonmoo]

You might also want to add PayStone
PayStone
Setup fee $0
Monthly Fee $0
Single Currency transaction (from 0.25 to 5): 5% + $0.10US
Single Currency transaction (from 5.01 to 500): 3% + $0.30US
Cash Out Fee: $1 to Canadian or US bank account , $3 to international (where avaible), and $5 by check.

[mrzippy]

I think Digitally Justified Technologies is a reseller for PsiGate?

[tamouh]

Here are additional CDN Merchant Providers:

OptimalPayments / FirePay
----------------------
Setup Fee $99
Monthly Fee $35 per account
Per Transaction Fee $0.35
Discount Rate 3.5% CDN and 2.75% USD
Roll Reserve 5% for 180 days


TD Online Mart
------------------
Setup Fee $145
Monthly Fee $40 per account
Per Transaction Fee $0.35
Discount Rate 2.95% CDN and 2.95% USD


Bean Stream
----------------
Setup Fee $195
Monthly Fee $40 per account
Per Transaction Fee $0.35
Discount Rate 2.95% CDN and 2.95% USD
Roll Reserve 8% for 180 days

[Toeki]

too bad PayStone doesn't allow people located outside of the States and Canada.

[fuffalo]

I'm still confused about 2checkout, and their website isn't helping too much.

Can 2checkout accept Canadian funs, charge my users in Canadian funds, and pay me in my Canadian bank account (RBC)?

If so they seem to be the cheapest CC processor (other than paypal).

-fuff

[Derek@BP6.Net]

Thanks for the list writespeak!

[writespeak]

The DareDevil wrote:
>> Thanks for the list writespeak!

You're welcome, and thanks to the others who have contributed too.

The TD prices in an earlier post are at http://www.onlinemart.ca/EN/PaymentServicesPricing.asp. If you want to receive both Canadian and US dollars, there's a $15 monthly charge for the second currency, and there's an additional setup fee.

On a related subject, at http://www.tdcommercialbanking.com/us_card.jsp:

Using Bank One, Canadian companies selling goods and services in the U.S. can accept payment by either VISA or MasterCard in U.S. dollars and settle U.S. transactions in U.S. dollars....If using a Canadian processor, transactions must be converted to Canadian dollars at point of sale, then back into U.S. dollars before being applied to the U.S. cardholder's account.

Is this why merchant accounts are more expensive in Canada than in the US. ?? It doesn't make sense to me to receive payment in US currency, convert it to Canadian currency, and then convert it back to US currency. I went to a lot of work to get a credit card account in US dollars to avoid converting money from one currency to the other as much as possible, and I hope that merchant providers are able to avoid currency conversion too. Are they?

Lois

[Swix]

Excellent post writespeak,

It's nice to see a clean current summary of many of the Canadian merchants that can do business in CDN and USD (among others) funds.

I'm in the process of shopping for a merchant account/gateway provider with an acceptable monthly fee.

Thanks,
Swix.

[Derek@BP6.Net]

I think 2CO is looking good for me at the moment.

[Swix]

The DareDevil,

Not to hijack this thread, but you should look at what others have said about 2CO (if you haven't already)...

Best of Luck.

[Derek@BP6.Net]

Originally posted by Swix
The DareDevil,

Not to hijack this thread, but you should look at what others have said about 2CO (if you haven't already)...

Best of Luck.

Really? Darn... Okay I'll take a look.

Unfortunately my choices are limited as not only do I need to find a US/CDN merchant account and gateway, but it has to be compatible with my software.

Thanks for the heads-up.

[Derek@BP6.Net]

Okay guys, I made up my mind and I'm going with Moneris!



For those of you who are wondering, here is how there setup fee is broken (canadian dollars of course):

$250 for the initial paperwork.

$150 for the actual "E-Select Plus" account setup.

$45/month standard.

$3/month to transfer the money to your merchant accounts.

Since I am considered "High Risk" (due to the fact that I'm not conducting face-to-face transactions), they are starting me off at a discount rate of 3% + 0.20 per transaction.

The setup fee is huge, but the security and ability to re-negotiate my transaction fees after one year has elapsed is worth it in my books. Not only that, the money goes straight to my accounts, so I don’t have to worry about a PaySystems scenario.

Derek

[Derek@BP6.Net]

Right... almost forgot... 10-15 business days to setup the gateway account. Not sure if this is for the actual hardware type of setup, or if it's going to be quicker for me since I'm online only.

[infofile]

I checked out merchant-accounts.ca and they have a good deal, plus pretty good tech. support. We're switching over to them now. Rush deal