Payment processing, in plain daylight
Honest, practical guides to what you’re really paying to accept cards — and how to read your statement like an insider.
Best payment processor for nail salons in Canada (GTA guide)
For a nail salon, the best payment processor is one that charges a flat fee — not a percentage — on Interac debit, because salon tickets are small and…
Read the guide →Interchange fees in Canada: how card processing fees really work
On a $100 credit-card sale in Canada, most of the fee is interchange — money that goes to the bank that issued your customer's card, at rates set by Visa and…
Read the guide →Interac fees for merchants: flat fee vs percentage in Canada
Interac debit is flat-fee by design: Interac Corp. charges the industry a wholesale switch fee of about 1.4 cents per transaction, and Interac interchange is…
Read the guide →Restaurant & café payment processing in the GTA: fees, tips, terminals
For a GTA café doing an illustrative 300 transactions a day at a $6.50 average ticket, the difference between the two pricing models is about $536 a month: at…
Read the guide →Square fees in Canada vs. an independent processor: honest math
For very low or sporadic volume — market stalls, seasonal sellers, brand-new businesses — Square usually wins: its base plan has no monthly fee, and you pay…
Read the guide →Credit card surcharging in Ontario: dos, don'ts, customer reactions
Surcharging Visa and Mastercard credit cards has been legal in Ontario since October 6, 2022, and for a merchant it turns the cost of accepting credit into a…
Read the guide →How to switch payment processors in Canada without downtime
Open your new merchant account before you cancel the old one (approval usually takes 2–7 business days), run both processors side by side while you test…
Read the guide →Credit card processing fees in Canada: junk fees explained
Watch three things: your effective rate, the fixed junk fees, and the audit habit. Your effective rate — total monthly fees divided by total card sales — is…
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