Head-to-head, honestly
How Payzium compares against the processors merchants leave. No spin, just the math.
We process payments at interchange + 0.30% + 5¢ Tier 1 margin: the same fees the card networks charge us, plus a thin transparent margin. Below is what that looks like next to the flat-rate, bundled, and legacy structures most merchants come from.
Flat-rate platforms
Payzium vs
Square
Square's 2.5% in-person flat rate is fine until you scale. Past about $15K/month you're paying for interchange you can't see, and hardware lock-in compounds the switching cost.
Payzium vs
Stripe
Stripe's headline 2.9% + 30¢ stacks a chain of modifiers (+0.5%, +0.8%, +2%) that quietly lifts the effective rate well past the number on the page. Best developer platform in payments; the modifier stack is the actual bill.
Payzium vs
Shopify Payments
Shopify Payments' processing rate is welded to your subscription tier. A cheaper plan buys a worse rate. Third-party 2% fee on Basic if you pick your own processor. Honest math on Basic at $40K/month.
Payzium vs
Lightspeed
Lightspeed's own legal fee table charges $270/mo at $40K volume to any merchant who uses a processor other than Lightspeed Payments. Their POS software is strong; that is the size of the vendor lock.
Bank-linked processors
Payzium vs
Moneris
Moneris Flat Rate at 2.65% + 10¢ is the most expensive way to take credit cards if you're a smaller Canadian merchant. Honest math at $40K/month.
Payzium vs
Global Payments
Global Payments runs many bank-bundled merchant programs in Canada. The headline rate is rarely the effective rate; FTNQ surcharges and monthly admin fees stack on top.
Payzium vs
Desjardins
Desjardins does not process card payments itself; the caisse refers merchants to Global Payments. The rate you pay is the Global Payments rate. Honest math on that program at $40K/month.
Interchange-plus peers
don't see yours
On a different processor?
Square, Global Payments, and Moneris each have a full comparison above. If you're on Helcim, Clover, BMO Merchant Services, Stripe, Toast, Worldpay, Elavon, or anyone else, the same wholesale-plus math applies.
Open a free account online. The rate structure is the same regardless of who you're leaving: interchange at cost, 0.30% + 5¢ margin Tier 1, lower as you scale.
Honest math
Honest math. Decide from there.
Wholesale-plus pricing at interchange + 0.30% + 5¢ Tier 1 margin. Backed by Pay less or it's free. No setup fee, no PCI fee, no monthly minimum, no junk fees.
Prefer to talk it through first? Request a rate review and we call you back.
Reading a statement line you do not recognize? Look it up in the Statement Fee Decoder.