5 Best Payment Gateways in Canada (March 2024)

Do you have an app idea and wondering which Payment Gateway is the most appropriate for you? This blog is for those who are looking for the best Canadian Payment Gateways to choose from. Our app development consultant and business analyst discussed the features of different online payment gateways and which businesses should go for them. From the discussion, we have chosen the top 5 payment processing companies in Canada based on their functionality and user reviews.

Cash is boring. Not just boring, it is probably becoming obsolete.

What does it have to do with your app?

When you create an app, there are a lot of aspects that are needed to be taken care of. If your app charges for a service, product or feature then there needs to be a functionality to charge this amount from the users.

Cash payments are not feasible most of the times and this is why online payment solutions must be integrated into the apps. These online payment gateway service providers help the merchants to carry out transactions as they authorize credit and debit card payment and net banking processes, everything digitally.

Digital payments are taking over cash payments and there are statistics to prove it. Take a look.

Some Important Statistics About Digital Payments

  • The total transaction value in the Digital Payments segment is projected to reach US$ 9.46tn by 2023.
  • This value is expected to show an annual growth rate of 11.8% resulting in the total amount of US$14.78tn by 2027.
  • The largest segment of this market is Digital Commerce with a total transaction value of US$6.06tn in 2023.

After creating an eCommerce app, a delivery service app, or any app that needs an online payment portal, you must decide which one. There are a lot of payment solutions available in Canada. Here, we have prepared a list of top Payment Gateways in Canada.

5 Best Canadian Payment Gateways

Here is brief information about the top payment processors in Canada in the following table. Look at the information present in the table which helps you to make a decision quickly.

Logo & NameStarting PriceInstant DepositsG2 & Capterra RatingsInvoicingSecurity Compliance
  • (2.6% + $0.10) Per swipe/dip/tap
  • (3.5% + $0.15) Per manual card transaction
  • (2.9% + $0.30) Per transaction online or invoices
No 4.7

(2,300 reviews)

YesPCI DSS
  • Online: 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction
  • In-person: 2.7% + 5¢ per transaction
Yes4.7

(3,037 reviews)

YesPCI Service Provider Level 1
  • Online: 2.85% + $0.30 per transaction
  • In-person: 2.65% + $0.10 per transaction
Yes 3.5

(12 reviews)

YesPCI DSS
  • Advanced Credit and Debit Card Payments: 2.59% + fixed fee
  • Payments Advanced: 2.89% + fixed fee
Yes 4.7

(25,016 reviews)

YesPCI DSS
  • Online transaction fee: 1% + 25¢
  • Swiped/keyed transaction fee: 2.6% + 10¢
Yes 4.2

(35 reviews)

YesPCI DSS
  1. Square: Ease and Cost-effective Solution for Digital Payments

    Square

    Source: Square.com

    Square was launched in 2009, first with the idea of a swipe-based smartphone processing system before anyone else. The most uncommon aspect was that there is no monthly fee or equipment cost.

    It is considered to be the most feature-rich and advanced mPOS (mobile POS) solution without a monthly fee. With Square, merchants pay a rate of 2.75% for swipes transactions, 3.5% +$0.15 for keyed transactions and 2.9% + $0.30 for online transactions.

    There are no statement fees, monthly fees or monthly minimum. This is like a boon for the merchants who don’t have an established payment processing history.

    Square also provides a seamless transition between online and in-person via a free online store that syncs with in-app inventory counts and eCommerce integrations.

    Square also has a virtual terminal, stored card capability, invoicing and recurring billing, online ordering option, analytics, third-party app integrations (the reason we mentioned it as the best payment processors in Canada and a payment doorway API for developers.

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  3. Stripe: An Developer Friendly Platform to Integrate

    Stripe

    Source: Stripe.com

    Stripe is an online payment processing integration system and is the most common integration in the western world. It has always focussed on empowering the Internet business with excellent developer tools and flexible solutions for most online businesses.

    Before you integrate a payment processor in your own app you might wanna check what other apps are using. Industry-leading names like Lyft, Wish, Blue Apron, Under Armour, TaskRabbit, and many more have to Stripe as their online POS system.

    It is a third-party payment processor that helps businesses to split payments, make in-app mobile payments, use advanced reporting tools, and excellent marketplace and subscription tools.

    Also, these Canadian payment processors provide payment technology like payment terminals, virtual transactions, and mobile payments. So, merchants can easily accept digital currencies.

    They do not charge any annual maintenance fees or setup fees. The only chargeable fee is the transaction charge of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.

    We have integrated this payment processing gateway into one of our client’s taxi-hailing app.

  4. Moneris: Leads Payment Processing for SMBs in the Market

    Moneris

    Source: Moneris.com

    Moneris processes approximately 3 billion online payments per year making it the largest payment processor in Canada for businesses of sizes.  It is among the top credit card processing companies in Canada for the same reason.

    When you use Moneris you will be sure that you are dealing with providers that care about security, their responsibility and availability. This is a Toronto-based payment processor that provides a multichannel solution with reliability. 

    Moneris is the best payment gateway for a small business in Canada who are looking to expand quickly.

    It has partnered with companies like Sage Accounting, RBC and BMO. With their assistance, Moneris also provides services like inventory and sales tracking capabilities for small businesses which makes them one of the leading payment service providers in Canada.

    Moneris has a monthly subscription fee of $19.95 and also charges an additional credit card fee of 2.75%.

    Being a Canadian business merchant if you are looking for a payment gateway, Moneris is the right choice for you. This case study explains why Moneris payment gateway is the right choice choice over Stripe, Evalon, and Square. This case study also describes how we integrated Moneris for our Odoo-based eCommerce client to address multiple challenges like local payment and cart abandonment issues.

  5. PayPal: A Well-known Market Ruler of the Online Payments

    PayPal

    Source: PayPal.com

    Paypal was the leading eCommerce platform and among the best payment gateway for ecommerce, with over 250 million users, many of them being in Canada. It provides a variety of solutions to its more than 200,000 Canadian SMBs clients.

    Small businesses love the PayPal Payment standard solution the most as it is a really easy way to get online transactions quickly. It is ideal for entrepreneurs who do not wish to take risks with their finances and security.

    It is the best payment gateway for a small business, and owners also prefer PayPal to avoid the added security risk of storing customer credit card information internally.

    The fees it charges are totally dependant upon the type of service. As a standard it is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. If the monthly volume is reached then this 2.9% goes down, in fact, it can go up to as low as 1.9% + $0.30.

    The pro solution that processes American Express, Visa, and Mastercard, the monthly feed is $35 along with regular transaction fees.

    We have integrated PayPal, which is one of the most used payment processors in Canada, in a lot of cab booking systems for quick and safe transactions.

  6. Elavon: One of the Top Five Global Payment Provider

    Elavon

    Source: Elavon.com

    Elavon is one of the largest merchant account providers in the US. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company is serving about 1.3 million merchants in over 30 countries.

    It processes more than 3 billion transactions every year in over 100 currencies. The total annual processing transactions exceed $300 billion.

    The businesses that use this payment doorway save on a lot of costs and are able to collect payments relatively quickly than other services. Elavon also offers a full range of proprietary products and services.

    The terminals provided by Elavon are able to accept every card in the world and process foreign currencies. The business owners also save money from the cashback program by Elavon.

    Elavon charges $270 one-time fee+ $10 monthly fee+ $0.19 transaction fee + 2.65% – 3.5% (Countertop terminal) for credit card payments or $89 one-time fee- $10 monthly fee + transaction fees of $0.19 + 2.65 %- 3.5% (Mobile terminal).

    Depending on the type of business you own (big, medium, small, startup) and the type of app you want to develop (eCommerce, booking, delivery, on-demand, others) you can integrate any of the above or other Canadian payment processors in your app.

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FAQ About Best Canadian Payment Gateways

  1. How do payment processor apps work?

    Payment processor apps enable the transfer of funds from a buyer to a merchant. The payment processors verify transaction details, ensure funds are available, authorize the payment, and finally, transfer the funds to the merchant’s account.

  2. Which payment method is mostly used in Canada?

    In Canada, credit cards, followed by debit cards, are the most commonly used payment methods for online and in-store transactions.

  3. Which is the largest payment processor in Canada?

    Moneris is one of the largest payment processors in Canada. This payment processing platform has a significant portion of the country’s electronic transactions.

  4. What is an API payment gateway?

    An API payment gateway is a set of protocols and tools that allows merchants to integrate payment processing capabilities directly into their website or app. Also, it enables seamless and secure online transactions.

Wrapping Up

Running a business is a difficult job indeed. Creating an app to either expand it or the app being the central dogma of the business, the payment doorway integration stays the important feature of it. We hope you have found the answer to your question, “Which are the most reliable payment gateway providers in Canada?”.

If you have an app idea that needs an online payment with such a feature or if you need to learn about the requirements for payment gateway integration in your app, feel free to contact us. We are a leading web and mobile app development company based in Canada. We specialize in Android app development and iOS app development and know for payment gateway integration in android as well as iPhone apps.

If you have any queries about payment gateway integration cost or timeline, you may contact us by just dropping your email in the form given in the footer, we will contact you within 48 hours. You can also get a 30-min free of cost consultation with our expert.

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Rakesh Patel

Written by

Rakesh Patel is the Founder and CEO of Space-O Technologies (Canada). He has 28 years of IT experience in business strategies, operations & information technology. He has expertise in various aspects of business like project planning, sales, and marketing, and has successfully defined flawless business models for the clients. A techie by mind and a writer at heart, he has authored two books – Enterprise Mobility: Strategy & Solutions and A Guide To Open311

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