How to Accept Payments Online in Canada: Complete Guide for Businesses

E-commerce in Canada continues to grow rapidly. If you're looking to sell online—whether you're launching a new store or adding online sales to an existing business—you need to understand how to accept payments securely and affordably.

This guide covers everything you need to know about accepting online payments in Canada.

The Basics: How Online Payments Work

When a customer pays on your website, here's what happens:

1. Customer enters card info on your checkout page
2. Payment gateway encrypts and sends data to processor
3. Processor routes to card networks and issuing bank
4. Authorization is sent back (approved/declined)
5. Funds settle to your bank account (usually 1-2 days)

This entire process takes 2-3 seconds.

What You Need to Accept Online Payments

1. Merchant Account

A merchant account lets you accept credit and debit card payments. You can get one through:

• A bank (often expensive, slow approval)
• An independent processor like PaymentsPlus (competitive rates, fast setup)
• An aggregator like Square or Stripe (easy but expensive at volume)

2. Payment Gateway

The gateway is the software that connects your website to the payment processor. Popular options:

• Authorize.net - Industry standard, works with most shopping carts
• NMI - Flexible, developer-friendly
• Stripe Gateway - Built for developers
• PaymentsPlus Gateway - Included with our merchant accounts

3. Shopping Cart or Checkout

How customers actually pay:

• E-commerce platform - Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce
• Invoicing - Send payment links via email
• Custom integration - API for custom websites

Pricing for Online Payments

Online transactions (card-not-present) cost more than in-person because of higher fraud risk. Typical rates:

Processor Type	Typical Rate
Aggregator (Stripe, Square)	2.9% + $0.30
Bank	2.5-3.5% + $0.25
PaymentsPlus	Interchange + 0.35% + $0.10

For a $100 transaction:

• Stripe: $3.20
• PaymentsPlus: ~$2.20

Savings of $1.00 per transaction adds up fast at volume.

E-commerce Platform Integration

Shopify

Shopify has its own payment system (Shopify Payments), but you can use third-party processors. With PaymentsPlus:

• Install our app or use Authorize.net
• Get lower rates than Shopify Payments
• Keep all Shopify features

WooCommerce (WordPress)

WooCommerce works with most payment gateways. Integration is straightforward:

• Install WooCommerce plugin
• Add your gateway credentials
• Test in sandbox mode
• Go live

Custom Websites

For custom builds, you'll typically use:

• Hosted payment pages (customer redirected to payment form)
• API integration (payment form on your site)
• JavaScript tokenization (most secure)

Security Requirements

PCI Compliance

If you accept cards, you must be PCI compliant. This means:

• Using secure, encrypted connections (HTTPS)
• Not storing card data (let your gateway handle it)
• Completing annual PCI questionnaire

Most gateways handle the heavy lifting—you fill out a simple SAQ-A questionnaire.

3D Secure

3D Secure (Verified by Visa, Mastercard SecureCode) adds a verification step:

• Customer enters card
• Redirected to bank verification
• Returns to complete purchase

Benefits:

• Reduced fraud
• Liability shift (bank absorbs certain chargebacks)
• Required for some European transactions

Address Verification (AVS)

AVS checks the billing address against the card issuer's records. Enable it to reduce fraud.

Reducing Online Fraud

E-commerce fraud is a real concern. Protect your business:

1. Use AVS and CVV - Require billing address match and card security code
2. Enable 3D Secure - For high-risk transactions
3. Set velocity limits - Flag multiple purchases from same card
4. Review large orders - Manually check unusual orders
5. Use fraud scoring - Services like Kount or Signifyd

Getting Started Checklist

✅ Choose a merchant account provider ✅ Select a payment gateway ✅ Integrate with your website/platform ✅ Enable security features (AVS, CVV, 3D Secure) ✅ Test thoroughly in sandbox mode ✅ Complete PCI compliance questionnaire ✅ Go live and monitor transactions

PaymentsPlus for E-commerce

We help Canadian businesses accept online payments with:

• Competitive interchange-plus pricing
• Multiple gateway options (Authorize.net, NMI, direct integration)
• Free setup and integration support
• PCI compliance assistance included
• Canadian support team

Get your free e-commerce quote and start selling online with lower fees.

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Questions about online payments? Contact us—we help businesses of all sizes sell online.