Helcim

Pros: The marketing materials and website initially appeared transparent and modern. The Learning Centre and developer documentation are well‑organized, but they are not a substitute for real onboarding support.

Cons: Lack of transparency on actual rates and agreements. Tickets closed without resolution. No callback or dedicated onboarding support. Contradictory and sugar‑coated messaging from staff. Aggressive marketing that does not match the reality of customer experience.

Pros: The site is well designed, UI is easy to navigate. While I am not happy with Helcim, I will say their customer service was quick to respond.

Cons: I selected Helcim because their website highlights a 2.22% average processing rate, which they frame as a competitive advantage. My first real transaction proved otherwise: the effective rate ended up being 3.14%. When I raised the issue, Helcim stated that the numbers shown are merely “averages,” not actual rates. That distinction is tucked into the fine print rather than clearly disclosed, and it feels intentionally vague. Compounding the disappointment, the onboarding experience was far more burdensome than advertised. Helcim required detailed financial documentation (balance sheet, P&L, cash flow) plus multiple rounds of clarification. This is far from the simple, transparent process they promote. Between unclear pricing, refusal to address the cost discrepancy, and a cumbersome onboarding process, my experience was extremely poor. I would urge others to be wary before signing up.

Pros: My favorite feature of Helcim is the ability to pass the processing fees onto the customer or not, it's my choice.

Cons: I don't like the fact that I don't receive a notification when a customer pays an invoice online. I have to manually check if its paid.

Pros: The concept is good and the fees are relatively low.

Cons: The on-boarding process was poor. When issues come up it is difficult to get good help.

Pros: I like the invoice options and customization. I like how quick the payments show up in my bank. I like that non-admin personnel can log in.

Cons: I would give Helcim 5-stars if weren't for the site timing out after about 30 seconds. I'm constantly adding new customers, referencing past customers in invoicing, but it keeps timing out sometimes as soon as 20 seconds. I have to refresh by going back to home and then to invoicing. Very frustrating! I also wish the estimate feature would say EST instead of INV and not have a due date. I also wish my address would appear on the top of the invoice instead of the bottom.

Pros: I wanted to use Helcim as an alternative processing where I could add a CC surcharge (as oppossed to ACH/debit, etc) - and Helcim looked like a promising choice. The fees looked to be good too in comparison, until someone pointed out how the fee % actually fluctuate depending on the situation (payment method, card type, product type, billing type, etc)

Cons: Couldn't get past the approval stage. I read how they arbitrarily also closed other people's accounts. The customer service was not helpful at all, and quite abrupt - it felt like they were doing me a favour by allowing me to become a client. I also had dissolved an LLC at the time and wanted to change the Business Name - but they didn't allow that either. I went ahead and created a new account, and they totally blocked that, despite me giving proof of the second company legality..

Pros: Price is cheaper compared to Stripe and other platforms.

Cons: After taking all my information (my SIN number and all) they declined my application without referring the cause. We have a legitimate business with proper documentation. They didn't even ask for additional documents. Straight declined! I don't feel safe now after sharing all my information. You should have mentioned during the signing-up process about your application criteria before taking personal information. Is this a way to collect people's personal information?

Pros: Unfortunately, not much at this point.

Cons: Their terminals and printers are painful to use.

Pros: It was easy to use and it was a Canadian company

Cons: $7a

Pros: The terminals you get are reliable and payment issues are very rate. Helcim also supports a subscription method. You can set-up accepting pre-paid cards easily.

Cons: I can see how the processing fees can be a deterrent to a lot of people. I think Helcim is a great product, but too expensive at the current pricing.

Pros: I liked their lower fees than Stripe, Square, etc

Cons: Many implementation issues, and they cancelled thousands of dollars in transactions without a decent explanation or resolution of the issue.

Pros: Payments processing was easy. Capturing payments was easy to understand

Cons: I wish we could change the setting for preauthorizing and capture on Helcim website instead of through Wordpress.

Pros: The application and approval process was quick and easy, had approval with 24 hours

Cons: A little more difficult to navigate around until you get used to it. Does not offer same day funding like most other mobile applications.

Pros: What we like most is that the system has worked smoothly; I do not believe we are taking advantage of the additional features, beyond accepting credit cards for payment.

Cons: The credit card process has fit in very smoothly with the operations; I have received no negative feedback.

Pros: For the most part Heclim's feature set covers what we need - where they really hit it out of the park is with support. Have always received prompt and useful technical assistance from their team.

Cons: We have a fairly complex environment and so Helcim doesn't do everything we need from it but that is overcome with supplementary software.

Pros: Invoice template creation and tracking invoice progress.

Cons: Ability to have two separate bank accounts (i.e. tax receipted donation account and sponsorship proceeds) through the same Helcim account.

Pros: I've done quite a bit of shopping around and have yet to find any card processing company that has lower or more comprehensive rates. On the rare occasion I or my staff have had to call customer service, we've had a very short wait to talk with a live person, and our issue was always easily remedied. I also appreciate that Helcim customer support were always careful to not share my personal information with my staff.

Cons: By far, my least favorite thing about using Helcim has been the card terminal itself. I've use a couple different ones, and they're rather clunky and tricky for our clients to use. Even walking our client through each step, they'd still often make a mistake and have to start over because they'd hit the wrong button.

Pros: Easy to use, Transparent fees, Great support, Cut the cost buy 60% from the last processor,

Cons: Could not be integrated with my POS .

Pros: The software offers a lot of flexibility and features for our organization to use in various processes that we have established.

Cons: I really don't have anything I dislike about the software.

Pros: The software is easy to use, easy to understand.

Cons: Can't really think of anything that I don't like.

Pros: Ease of use and pricing. Also low fees!!

Cons: Trouble linking receipt printer to tablet.

Pros: Everything one may normally need is there in the menu, sometimes tech support is needed, but usually just to show you where to go to get what you need.

Cons: Have not found one thing I dislike about this software.