How to accept credit cards in Canada (small business)

Taking cards in Canada is three separate problems: a way to accept Interac debit, a way to accept Visa/Mastercard/Amex, and a way to get CAD into a Canadian bank account without renting a US merchant account by accident.

This is a starting map for a sole prop or small shop — not an application to a bank, and not a ranking of every ISO in the country. Checked against public vendor and CRA pages, 29 August 2026.

Interac vs Visa/Mastercard

At a Canadian counter, a large share of taps are Interac. Published examples from the two consumer POS brands:

• Square CA: 0.75% + 7¢ Interac vs 2.5% in-person credit.
• Shopify Payments CA: 0% + 15¢ CAD Interac vs in-person credit from 2.6% + 0¢ CAD to 2.4% + 0¢ CAD depending on plan.

Online, credit is more common and more expensive (Square 2.8% + 30¢; Shopify Basic 2.8% + 30¢ CAD). Invoicing tools add their own card rates — see invoicing software. E-Transfer is still how a lot of B2B Canada pays; it is not card acceptance and it is not PCI.

The landscape, at a high level

Square, Shopify, and Moneris are official sites — not affiliate tracking links. Lightspeed sits with the POS comparison if you need a specialist retail system.

PCI without the scare poster

Shopify states it is Level 1 PCI DSS and that stores on Shopify are PCI compliant by default when you use their checkout. Square and Moneris terminals are designed so the card data stays in a certified device. Your job:

• Do not email card numbers.
• Do not type them into a random Gravity Form.
• Do not keep a paper copy “just in case.”
• Use the vendor’s keyed-entry flow if you must take a card over the phone (and expect a higher rate — Square lists 3.3% + 15¢).

Payouts in CAD

Open the processor on a Canadian legal name (your sole-prop name or corp), a Canadian photo ID, and a Canadian bank account. If the dashboard is stuck in USD, you signed up on the wrong country site. Use squareup.com/ca and shopify.com/ca.

Square markets next-day transfers as standard in Canada. Holds, reserves, and instant-transfer add-on fees exist in the fine print. Read the current Canadian terms before you promise a supplier “we’re always next day.”

A sole-prop starting path

1. Get a Canadian business bank account if you are still mixing rent and sales in one chequing account.
2. If you only invoice, add card payments inside Wave/FreshBooks/Xero or keep e-Transfer. You may not need a terminal.
3. If people stand in front of you, start with Square or Shopify POS and a supported Interac reader. Compare published rates in Shopify vs Square vs Lightspeed and, if the other shortlist is interchange-plus instead of Shopify, Square vs Helcim.
4. Turn on the correct GST/HST rate for the place of supply. Ontario HST how-to.
5. When annual card volume is large, ask a Canadian acquirer for an interchange-plus quote. Bring your Interac share. Do not switch because a Facebook ad said “2% flat.”

POS software detail: best POS systems in Canada. Processor-by-processor fees: payment processors for Canadian small businesses. If the counter is appointments rather than SKUs, start with scheduling software for Canadian small businesses.