Fee Disclosures
Last Updated June 28, 2023
Helcim has always been committed to honest and transparent pricing. Our fees are also set out on our public website at https://www.helcim.com/pricing/.
You can also see summary of card brand interchange rates at:
https://www.helcim.com/visa-usa-interchange-rates/
https://www.helcim.com/mastercard-usa-interchange-rates/
https://www.helcim.com/discover-usa-interchange-rates/
https://www.helcim.com/american-express-usa-opt-blue-rates/
https://www.helcim.com/us-pin-debit-interchange-rates/
Understanding Our Payment Fees
Helcim provides all merchants with a billing method known as Interchange Plus pricing (also known as Interchange+ or Cost+). All card association fees, network fees and interchange rates are passed onto the merchant directly. Helcim then adds its processing margin, which includes a (%) rate and a per transaction ($) fee.
Card-present (also referred as "in-person") are transactions processed and verified using either Chip & PIN, Chip & Signature, Magnetic Swipe or Tap (NFC). Card-not-present (also referred as "keyed") are transactions manually entered into the Helcim platform, such as payments processed using the Virtual Terminal, Card-Vault and Ecommerce portals. Recurring transactions are processed using Helcim's Recurring & Subscription functionality, which in most cases will qualify for discounted interchange rates from the card-networks.
Helcim provides discounted rates based on on your card processing volume. These discounts are divided into 5 tiers, and are automatically assigned to a tier based on a 3-month rolling processing average of all card-based transactions.
| Discount Tier Monthly Card Volume |
Processing Method | |
|---|---|---|
| Card-Present | Card-Not-Present | |
| Tier 1 - $0 - 50,000 | 0.40% + 8¢ | 0.50% + 25¢ |
| Tier 2 - $50,001 - $100,000 | 0.35% + 7¢ | 0.45% + 20¢ |
| Tier 3 - $100,001 - 500,000 | 0.25% + 7¢ | 0.35% + 20¢ |
| Tier 4 - $500,001 - 1,000,000 | 0.20% + 6¢ | 0.25% + 15¢ |
| Tier 5 - $1,000,001 + | 0.15% + 6¢ | 0.15% + 15¢ |
International Transactions
Card associations and network will charge additional fees for 'international transactions', which are transactions where the cardholder issuing bank is located in a different country than the merchant. The merchant's acceptance currency will also play a factor in the fees charged by the network, as displayed below.
| Card Network | Processing Method & Currency | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Card-Present USD | Card-Not-Present USD | ||
| Visa International | +1.45% + 4¢ | +1.45% + 4¢ | |
| MasterCard International | +1.45% + 0¢ | +1.45% + 0¢ | |
| Discover International | +1.00% + 0¢ | +1.00% + 0¢ | |
| American Express International | +1.30% + 0¢ | +1.30% + 0¢ | |
Helcim Bank Payments
| Description | Fee Details |
|---|---|
| ACH Payment |
0.5% + 25ยข per approved transaction below $25,000
|
| NSF / Reject / Return | $5 USD per transaction that is rejected or returned by the bank network. |
Other Fees
| Description | Fee Details |
|---|---|
| Chargebacks | $15 USD or $0 per occurrence. Chargebacks that are resolved in your favor will have their fee fully refunded back to you. |
| Currency Conversion Fee | 1% above the daily 5pm EST market rate. This fee only applies to merchants processing using our Multi-Currency-Processing (MCP) service, and does not apply to basic international transactions. |
| Helcim Card Reader Purchase | $99 USD plus applicable taxes |
| Helcim Smart Terminal Purchase | $329 CAD or 5 monthly payments of $68 plus applicable taxes |
| Helcim Level 2/3 Interchange Optimization | Helcim will optimize corporate and commercial credit card data to help reduce your interchange fees, a 30% optimization fee will be retained on savings generated. |