February 12, 2026 · 8 min read
We're going to do something unusual for a company blog post: give you a genuinely balanced comparison between NovaPay and the traditional payment processors. No cherry-picked metrics, no straw man arguments, no fine print that contradicts the headline. Just an honest assessment of where NovaPay wins, where traditional processors still have advantages, and who we're actually built for.
NovaPay usually wins on transparent interchange-plus pricing, month-to-month contracts, and next-business-day deposits. Traditional processors like Moneris or Global Payments still make sense at enterprise volume ($10M+/year) or when you need deep bank-integrated treasury tools. For most Canadian businesses processing $100K–$5M a year, NovaPay's pricing model saves real money — see the numbers below.
We think this approach will earn your trust more than another "we're amazing and everyone else is terrible" sales page. And trust matters when you're choosing who handles your money.
Canadian payment processing is dominated by a handful of legacy players. According to IBISWorld's industry analysis, the top five processors control over 70% of the Canadian market:
Each of these companies has strengths. But they also share common limitations that we built NovaPay to address.
Most legacy processors use bundled or tiered pricing. You get a single quoted rate (e.g., 2.65% or 2.9% + $0.30) that includes interchange, assessments, and the processor's markup in one opaque number. On a basic debit transaction where interchange is $0.07, you're still paying the full bundled rate. The processor pockets the difference, and you have no visibility into the split.
Tiered pricing is even worse: your processor sorts each transaction into "qualified," "mid-qualified," or "non-qualified" tiers and charges different rates for each. You have zero control over which tier a transaction lands in, and the criteria are often designed to maximize how many transactions fall into the expensive tiers.
We use interchange-plus pricing exclusively. Every statement shows three things:
Our typical markup for Canadian businesses: 0.25% – 0.45% + $0.08 per transaction, depending on volume and business type. That's it. No tiers, no bundles, no mystery math. (Our full fee schedule is public — no sales call required to see it.)
For a business processing $500,000 annually, the difference between bundled 2.9% pricing and our interchange-plus model typically works out to $4,000 – $8,500 in annual savings. We've detailed how to calculate your own savings in our guide to hidden processing fees.
We promised honesty, so here it is. There are scenarios where a traditional processor may be the better fit:
For the vast majority of Canadian businesses — those processing $100,000 to $5,000,000 annually, operating domestically or in North America, and wanting transparent pricing with actual human support — NovaPay is built for you.
Here's something no traditional processor will ever offer: when you onboard with NovaPay for payment processing, you're eligible for up to $10,000 in credit toward a single web development project from Nova Web.
That means a custom website, a full e-commerce platform, or a booking and CRM system — one project, up to $10,000 in value. For most small businesses, that completely covers a professional website or custom platform. A free website, funded by switching to a processor that already saves you money.
The logic is straightforward: NovaPay and Nova Web are part of the same ecosystem. We'd rather invest in building you a platform that processes more transactions through NovaPay than spend that money on advertising. You get better processing rates and a custom digital platform. We get a long-term processing relationship.
This credit is available exclusively to businesses onboarding for NovaPay payment processing services, and is limited while space is available. Once our current onboarding capacity is filled, the offer adjusts.
For businesses processing more than roughly $10,000/month, usually yes on cost — Square's flat rate (2.6% + $0.10 for in-person) is simple but gets expensive at volume, while NovaPay's interchange-plus markup (0.25%–0.45% + $0.08) scales down as you process more. Square remains a reasonable choice for very low-volume or mobile-first sellers who value instant sign-up over negotiated rates.
Moneris typically bundles or tiers its rates, so you see one blended number and can't verify the markup. NovaPay itemizes interchange, assessment, and markup separately on every statement, which is the main reason our customers can usually point to a specific savings figure after switching.
Not necessarily. If your current terminal is compatible, we reprogram it at no charge. If you're leasing equipment from a traditional processor, we can quote a purchase price for equivalent modern hardware you'll own outright.
NovaPay deposits land the next business day at no extra charge. Most traditional processors take 2–3 business days by default and often charge $5–$25/month for next-day deposits as an add-on.
The best payment processor is the one that's transparent about their pricing, doesn't lock you into contracts, and actually picks up the phone when you call. We built NovaPay to be that processor. The web development credit is our way of proving it.
See the full details on our card payments page, or browse our project portfolio to see what your $10,000 credit could build.