Moneris interchange plus fee schedule 2026: retail costs explained

Moneris offers two primary payment processing models in 2026: Simplified Pricing, which charges a 0.4% processor markup over network costs, and Flat Rate Pricing. Under Simplified Pricing, merchants pay raw interchange fees, network assessments, and a fixed 0.4% transaction fee. This structure acts as standard interchange pass-through pricing to give business owners wholesale card network rates plus a predictable processor margin.

Flat Rate Pricing sets fixed costs based on the transaction channel. Card-present retail transactions cost 2.65% plus CA$0.10 per credit card sale. Online card-not-present sales cost 2.85% plus CA$0.30 per transaction. In-person Interac debit carries a flat CA$0.12 fee, while online Interac debit costs CA$1.00 per sale. Both plans add a 0.8% fee for foreign card payments, though foreign assessment surcharges on Simplified Pricing can reach up to 1.00%.

Flat Rate Pricing beats Simplified Pricing for physical Canadian retailers across standard sales volumes. We calculate the exact math for Canadian small businesses comparing interchange plus against fixed processing rates. A storefront processing CA$10,000/month across 200 transactions at a CA$50 average sale, split 60% credit and 40% debit, pays CA$180.60/month on Flat Rate card-present pricing. This totals CA$2,167.20/year for an effective rate of 1.81%. The same card volume on Simplified Pricing card-present costs CA$194/month or CA$2,328/year, yielding a 1.94% effective rate based on tracked network credit interchange averaging 1.54% plus the 0.4% Moneris markup.

For online card-not-present processing under Flat Rate, that CA$10,000/month volume costs CA$287/month or CA$3,444/year at a 2.87% effective rate with CA$1 debit fees. This creates a CA$1,276.80/year spread between the cheapest and most expensive option. At a larger volume of CA$25,000/month across 500 transactions with the same parameters, Flat Rate card-present pricing costs CA$451.50/month or CA$5,418/year, maintaining the 1.81% effective rate. On Simplified Pricing, processing CA$25,000/month costs CA$485/month or CA$5,820/year at a 1.94% effective rate. Processing online under Flat Rate hits CA$717.50/month (CA$8,610/year) at a 2.87% effective rate, widening the gap between models to CA$3,192/year.

Our data demonstrates Flat Rate card-present pricing costs less than Simplified Pricing card-present at every volume for this transactional mix. Because Simplified Pricing carries a 1.94% marginal effective rate compared to 1.81% on Flat Rate without requiring any additional monthly platform fee, physical stores achieve closer parity between their expected margins and actual settlement costs.

Moneris Flat Rate Pricing beats Simplified Pricing for Canadian brick-and-mortar stores primarily due to domestic Interac debit. In the United States, interchange-plus models typically lower costs because debit network fees are capped. In Canada, Interac debit operates differently. Under Moneris Flat Rate Pricing, card-present Interac debit carries a CA$0.12 flat fee per transaction regardless of ticket size.

Under Simplified Pricing, Moneris applies its 0.4% processor markup to Interac debit alongside network fees. This prices debit transactions like credit cards, stripping away the traditional flat-fee debit discount. When a retailer processes heavy debit volume, paying a percentage markup on every debit sale inflates costs rapidly. A store handling a 40% debit mix sees its potential interchange-plus rate savings wiped out by the 0.4% percentage markup on debit purchases, making flat per-transaction debit pricing highly economical.

Merchants on Moneris Simplified Pricing will automatically absorb several card network fee updates in 2026. Interac increases its Switch and Mobile Service fees from 0.015803 CAD to 0.016315 CAD per transaction effective November 1, 2026. For merchants operating under MCC 5531 for home and auto stores, Interac Flash transactions between 0.01 and 100.00 CAD transition from Tier 1 pricing at 0.020 CAD to Tier 3 pricing at 0.035 CAD.

Visa introduces new network fees that hit interchange-plus merchants directly. Effective June 1, 2026, Visa implements a Card Present Token Fee of 0.0113% for domestic contactless transactions and 0.0565% for foreign transactions. On October 24, 2026, Visa adjusts domestic consumer credit interchange rates, lowering select Small Merchant programs while increasing Visa Business Credit rates to 2.15%.

Mastercard adds pass-through charges throughout 2026. Starting July 20, 2026, Mastercard introduces a Force Post Transaction Fee of 0.1017 USD. On October 19, 2026, it replaces the Acquirer Clearing Fee with the Acquirer Network Access and Brand Usage (NABU) Fee, charging 0.022035 USD for domestic sales. Flat Rate merchants remain insulated from these specific adjustments, while Simplified Pricing users see every fractional increase on their monthly statements.

Beyond transaction markups, Moneris merchants must budget for monthly account, software, and administrative fees detailed in the 2026 catalogue. Moneris charges a CA$5.00 monthly minimum merchant discount rate and a CA$5.00 Moneris Go software fee for point-of-sale functionality. Statement and administrative costs include a $2.00 paper statement fee, $0.08 for dial communications, and $2.50 for an aged close batch.

Payment disputes incur direct fees. A standard chargeback carries a $25.00 chargeback fee, and an authorization chargeback handling fee costs $80.00. Software security features differentiate the two pricing models. Moneris Flat Rate Pricing includes essential fraud prevention tools like Kount, 3DS, and tokenization at no extra charge. On Simplified Pricing, these security services are billed as incremental expenses, adding to the baseline cost of an interchange-plus account.