Card fee checker

How it works

1. 1 Copy last month's card statement in: each card's sales, fees and number of payments, or just the totals if that's all it shows. Your rate per $100 sold adds up as you type.
2. 2 Read your check-up: how your Visa and Mastercard rate sits against the 0.95% the card banks get on average from a small business, what debit costs you over Interac's own fees, whether you're under the networks' small-business limits, and what Visa's cut should save.
3. 3 Ask for better: weigh up to two quotes on the same month, write to your processor in English or French, and download the check-up with your next steps.

Free, with no account. The sums happen on this device, and nothing you type is sent anywhere until you download. Nothing is kept.

Good to know

Is 0.95% what I should be paying?

No one pays only that. It's interchange: what the bank behind a Canadian consumer credit card gets, on average, from a business under the networks' limits, after the government's 2024 agreement with Visa and Mastercard. The networks' own fees and your processor's share come on top. So the check-up shows how far over it you are and what each tenth of a point is worth to you, not a rate you're owed.

What changes on October 24, 2026?

Visa's small-business rates in store drop 0.07 to 0.10 points, by card, and its yearly limit for them rises from $300,000 to $750,000 in Visa sales. On interchange-plus pricing it should show on your next statement by itself. On a flat or tiered rate, it reaches you only if your processor lowers the rate, so ask. If it isn't passed on, the Code of Conduct for the Payment Card Industry lets you leave without a penalty within 70 days: by January 2, 2027 (verify).

Can I add a surcharge for credit cards?

Outside Quebec, you can add one to Visa and Mastercard credit payments: up to 2.4%, and no more than that card costs you. You have to tell customers before they pay and tell your processor first. Read the Financial Consumer Agency's guide and check your province's rules before you start (verify). The check-up works out the most yours could be.

Where are these numbers on my statement?

On the monthly statement from whoever runs your card machine or online checkout. Look for a summary by card type: the sales (sometimes “volume” or “amount processed”), the fees (sometimes “discount”) and the number of payments. Monthly charges, like terminal rental, often sit in a section of their own. If your statement only gives totals, choose “Just the totals”.

Why only one month?

Because one statement is enough to see what you pay and where it goes, and it's the one you have to hand. The year figures are last month × 12, so a busy or a quiet month moves them. Check again when the next statement comes: the check-up's last step says so.

Will the letter get my rate lowered?

It can't promise that, but it asks the right questions in writing: which pricing you're on, your rate for each card, the fees you ticked, and whether Visa's cut reaches you. Fill in the [brackets] and send it by email, so you have a record of what you asked and when.

Should I switch processors?

Weigh it whole. A lower rate can come with a new terminal, a contract term, or a fee to leave the one you have. Enter a quote just as it's written, and the check-up shows it against the same month. This is a guide to help you ask the right questions, not financial or legal advice.

Is the French right?

It was written for this tool and kept short and plain, but have a French speaker read it before you send it. You can change any word of it once it's in your email.