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Helcim Review: Does Helcim Credit Card Processing Offer The Best Of All Worlds?

Helcim is one of the best merchant services providers out there for both Canadian merchants and US-based businesses.

    Frank Kehl
  • UPDATED

Advertiser Disclosure: Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity.

Helcim At A Glance

  • Month-to-month billing with no early termination fee for all users
  • Interchange-plus pricing for all users
  • No monthly account fee

Frank Kehl

Frank Kehl

Expert Analyst & Reviewer at Merchant Maverick
Frank Kehl has been researching and analyzing merchant services, payment gateways, and international money transfer services since 2015. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State and a Juris Doctorate from the Ventura College of Law.
Frank Kehl
View Frank Kehl's professional experience on LinkedIn.



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Helcim


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After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Helcim for yourself.

The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆

Helcim


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After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Helcim for yourself.

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242 Comments

Responses are not provided or commissioned by the vendor or bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the vendor or bank advertiser. It is not the vendor or bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

    Scarlett

    Hello,
    I was wondering if you could provide some insight. I’m an online Canadian service vendor that uses monthly recurring subscription billing. I signed up with Helcim, however their in-house system seems to be awful for subscriptions. Their API is pretty incomplete for this part, and they don’t have a very good management for subscriptions out of the box.
    I also looked at KIS as merchant maverick recommends, however, they’re a reseller rather than the actual processor, and none of their choices seems to have anything out of the box for subscriptions either.
    Do you have any suggestions for a well priced processor in Canada that does a good job at handling subscription management and recurring billing?

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

    Jessica Dinsmore

    Hi Scarlet!

    Neither Helcim nor KIS Payments are direct processors, although this won’t affect the quality of service you receive. In fact, these companies typically offer lower prices and much better service than the large direct processors. For a better alternative for recurring billing, Stripe and Authorize.Net are both good options and are available in Canada. You can compare them here. Best of luck to you!

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

    Kevin Reichert

    Went with Helcim after this glowing review back in 2019… wish I hadn’t. When they were using their ‘legacy’ system it was good. Their in-house system is terrible. In-person transactions are very slow to process, and time-out frequently, usually during busy times. The merchant hardware is awful – screen is too small (very difficult for customers to read, get at least one complaint a day!), the F-buttons that were required for making selections (they have updated so the actual number buttons can be used in their place) are next to impossible to press (have to use a fingernail or the edge of your credit/debit card). Had to put tape over the bottom front of the unit, as customers would try to insert their card and it would go between the bottom of the unit and stand (that’s a Incognito design flaw). They take their fees out of each batch, not a one time monthly bill, so my bookkeeper *loves* the extra work! And support is lackluster at best, I have never received a response to an online or email support request within 24 hours, ever! My latest follow up today Feb 2 is for a request submitted Jan 13! If you like good pricing, terrible hardware, lackluster performance and lacking support, Helcim is for you!

    2

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

    Helcim Team

    Organization Name: Helcim

    Hello Kevin,

    Providing a better payment experience is very important to us – we take feedback seriously and work hard to continually update and improve our merchant’s experience. We apologize for the delay in responding to your January 13th feature request, that is not the experience we strive to provide.

    We have many merchants using our service and hardware successfully, and we have been working hard to continually improve the experience. However, we can understand how these updates can be frustrating at times. We appreciate your feedback regarding your customer’s user experience and are incorporating it into our future hardware decisions. We are reviewing the activity on your account, seeing what we can do to help.

    Kind regards,
    The Helcim Team

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

    Barry Pritchard

    Organization Name: Landsvest

    The pricing you show for Helcim is stated as Helcim margins. What is the actual credit card fee charged to a User for volume in excess of $5 Million per month with an average transaction of $1,500 ?
    Also for debit cards.

    Thanks
    BP

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

    Jessica Dinsmore

    Hi Barry,

    There is going to be variability and we can’t calculate the final cost. Unlike a flat-rate system, where the processor’s profits may change and your final cost is consistent, the interchange-plus system is different. In this case, Helcim’s profit is consistent, while the merchant’s cost depends on what the interchange rate is for the transaction. The interchange rate is set by the card brands across the board and varies. We have written a post that helps make sense of interchange rates. I hope that helps!

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

    Gareth Morgan

    Organization Name: Metareal Inc.

    As a Canadian company, we initially chose Helcim because they’re Canadian, because of the transparent cost structure, and because the platform offers fairly comprehensive subscription management. Unfortunately, although the visual design is clean and elegant, the actual UX of the Helcim portal has turned out to be quite idiosyncratic and rife with bugs, a situation further compounded by the slow, lackadaisical attitude of the support team, who sometimes take several days to respond, and when they do, are often unable to offer any concrete advice or firm ETAs for resolutions to urgent problems.

    2

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

    Helcim Team

    Organization Name: Helcim

    Hello Gareth,

    Providing a better payment experience is very important to us – we take feedback seriously and work hard to continually update and improve our merchant’s experience. We understand your frustration that recent updates have disrupted your payments. However, we do have many merchants using our software and subscription payments successfully. It looks like you have been working closely with several members of our support team and our CEO Nicolas to resolve your concerns. We continue to work on addressing the feedback you have submitted to our team and we will work directly with you to improve your payment experience.

    Kind regards,
    The Helcim Team

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

    COLIN

    Just signed up a merchant account with Helcim. The application process was user friendly and seamless. I was amazed how quickly I was approved. The rates are great, and the people are very friendly and easy to work with.

    5

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

    dipjoy shivakoti

    Organization Name: Online Navigation Service

    We are a small business setup in India offering website navigation services, we are not very familiar with the merchant account and debit/credit card processing mechanism. Nevertheless, payments from some of our overseas customers decline at checkout of our payment gateway. Can Helcim help?

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

    Jessica Dinsmore

    Hi Dipjoy,

    I’d actually suggest taking a look at Durango for international/offshore processing.

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

    Max Sloan

    Organization Name: Pulp Fiction Coffee House

    May we have your general assessment of Digitech verses Helcim

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

    Jessica Dinsmore

    Hi Max,

    Unfortunately, we haven’t yet reviewed Digitech, so we can’t give our assessment one way or the other.

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

    Pablo

    Organization Name: PureLocal Australia

    I would recommend avoiding Helcim and using a trusted merchant like Paypal or Stripe. We currently use Paypal and the onboarding process was simple. We joined Helcim because of the customizable forms however since the outset their staff send contradictory emails. One email states the account is active , the other staffmember emails that the account is closed. They have our business documents which were uploaded and I hope they’re deleted. Before trying Helcim , try Paypal or Stripe as they do not waste your time.

    1

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

    Joe Duarte

    Pablo, Stripe and Paypal are much more expensive than Helcim or any other interchange + plus provider. If I had a problem with Helcim, I would just choose another highly rated interchange + plus provider like National Processing or a flat fee option like Payment Depot. Why pay 2.9% when you can pay much less.

    Debit cards really expose the difference. Interchange for most debit cards is 0.05%. Paypal and Stripe are making a killing off of their customers by charging 2.9% on those transactions.

    This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.

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