Best for Cheap
Payment Processing, 2023
Best for High-Volume
Sellers, 2025
Best for Overall
Payment Processor, 2024
Best for Small
Business, 2023
Best and Cheapest for
Growing Businesses, 2024
Best for Custom
Rates, 2025
You get funded in your own currency, while your customer’s bank takes care of the conversion.
You charge US$100 to a customer using a foreign credit card.
The exchange rate is processed by the customers bank.
You receive US$100 for the transaction.
Remote businesses.
Take payments from your clients in other countries.
Online stores.
Promote and sell your products to anyone in the world.
In-person.
Accept credit cards from tourists or foreign clients at your location.
No matter where your customers are located, you can get paid without hassle.
You’re no longer tied to customers in your local country. Expand your sales across borders and sell to anyone in the world.
No extra steps on your end. Set prices in your local currency and let your customer's bank handle the currency conversion.
Canadians have the option to link their USD bank account to Helcim and charge American clients in USD.
All international transactions are subject to an additional cross-border fee, charged by the credit card networks. This is passed through by Helcim and included as part of our Interchange+ pricing.
The international interchange rate varies depending on the currency of your Helcim account and the type of card your customer uses.
The international interchange rate varies depending on the type of card your customer pays with.
Helcim account in CAD
| Visa | +0.68% | |
| Mastercard | +0.68% | |
| American Express | +0.68% | |
| Discover | +0.45% |
Helcim account in USD
| Visa | +1.13% | |
| Mastercard | +1.13% | |
| American Express | +0.68% | |
| Discover | +0.45% |
Helcim price
| Visa | +1.45% + 3.6¢ | |
| Mastercard | +1.45% | |
| American Express | +1.00% | |
| Discover | +1.30% |
You will be charged like any other transaction with Helcim’s transparent interchange plus pricing. However, international payments are also subject to international interchange rates set by the card brands like Visa and Mastercard. Learn more about Visa Interchange Rates here Learn more about Mastercard International Rates here Learn more about Visa Interchange Rates here Learn more about Mastercard International Rates here
Yes! Visa and Mastercard offer their services globally allowing you to receive payments from anywhere in the world. This means you can seamlessly accept international Visa and Mastercard payments. No matter the currency your customer chooses to pay in, you'll receive the payment in your own currency. The conversion will be handled by your customer's bank at the moment of the transaction.
Just like any domestic credit card payments, international payments are processed and approved instantly upon transaction. You can expect to receive your deposit within 1-2 business days.
International refunds can be processed normally like any other domestic credit card refund transaction. Interchange fees only incur on the original purchase transaction and not on a refund transaction.
If a customer files achargeback on an international transaction, this will go to their issuing bank who will contact your payment provider. Your payment provider will mediate with the necessary parties both local and international to try and resolve any chargeback disputes on your behalf. Chargeback fees are the same as a local transaction ($15 per successful chargeback), and you will be required to reimburse the transaction fees if the chargeback goes through.
You don’t require anything specific in order to process international payments. Once you have an active Helcim account up and running, you are ready to accept international credit cards from the major card brands (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover).
Check out our free integration tools that can help you accept payments online, for example Hosted Payment Pages, which allow you to add payment functionality to your already existing website, with no programming required.
You can take payments with peace of mind knowing the conversion is handled by the customer's bank, meaning you don’t have to worry about paying any foreign transaction or currency conversion fees.
Speak to a real person who can answer your payment questions.
Call us, book a demo, or fill out the form to learn:
