Helcim fees for home-services contractors, next to Payzium's published rate.

Helcim column: its published in-person, $0 to $50k per month band at Interchange + 0.40% + $0.08 [1]; in-person, $100k to $500k per month band at Interchange + 0.25% + $0.07 [9]; online, $0 to $50k per month band at Interchange + 0.50% + $0.25 [3]; online, $100k to $500k per month band at Interchange + 0.35% + $0.20 [12]. Payzium column: interchange and network assessments at cost, the published margin at the tier for that volume, the per-transaction fee and the monthly account fee. A positive difference means Helcim costs more.

Helcim's band is chosen by each row's monthly volume. Its margin and per-transaction fee are applied to every card transaction, credit and debit, which is how its published schedule reads; Helcim publishes no credit-only carve-out. Interchange passes through at the same rates the Payzium column uses.

Average ticket sets the competitor's per-transaction count. Payzium's per-transaction line is counted at the $50 sitewide ticket assumption the calculator uses.

The Payzium column is the calculator's engine, so the calculator's disclosure applies here as written:

Calculator output is an estimate. Final pricing depends on your actual card mix, current network rates effective on the date of your transactions, and any optional add-ons. The model assumes an average transaction value of $50. Visa and Mastercard revise their US interchange schedules twice a year; this calculator reflects schedules effective April 2026.

Home services trades, from plumbing and HVAC to landscaping and cleaning, accept most of their cards away from a counter. A technician takes payment at the customer's door on a phone or a portable reader, the office keys a card over the phone for a deposit, or the customer pays an emailed invoice online. Each of those is a different interchange category, and the share of each is what decides the effective rate.

The in-the-field share is the cheapest when the card is tapped or inserted on a reader, and the most expensive when the technician types the number in because a reader was not to hand. Plans that quote one number for "mobile" payments usually mean the tapped case; the keyed case is quoted separately and higher, and it is the one that happens on a job site more often than anyone plans for.

Invoices are the second factor. Home services tickets are large and often paid days after the work, from a link in an email or a text. That is card-not-present at invoice interchange, and it is where a flat rate's online number applies. A business that invoices most of its work should compare the online columns, not the in-person ones.

Third, seasonality and ticket spread. An HVAC contractor has a summer that looks nothing like its spring, and a single install can be worth a month of service calls. Tiered plans set on the average month price the peaks badly; interchange-plus does not care which month it is.

The table above uses a typical service ticket and a card-present share that assumes readers are used in the field for most jobs, with a keyed and invoiced share for deposits and larger installs. A contractor who invoices nearly everything should expect the keyed share, and the gap between plans, to be larger.