For most Quebec SMBs selling online, Stripe is currently the payment gateway that is easiest to integrate and most flexible. PayPal remains a complementary option some customers appreciate, and solutions like Square, Moneris or Helcim deserve a look depending on your situation. Here’s how to make sense of it all, without unnecessary jargon.
What does a payment gateway do?
The payment gateway is the service that authorizes and processes card payments on your site. It bridges your store, your customer’s bank and your business account. This choice directly affects three things: the fees you pay, your customers’ checkout experience and how complex the integration with your site will be.
Stripe: the default choice for most stores
Ten years ago, PayPal was the reflex. Today, Stripe is what we install most often on the online stores we build, and for concrete reasons:
- the integration with WooCommerce and most platforms is native and well documented;
- the customer pays without leaving your site, which reduces cart abandonment;
- Apple Pay, Google Pay and the major cards are supported out of the box, in Canadian dollars;
- deposits to your bank account are automatic;
- Stripe is PCI DSS Level 1 certified, the payment industry’s highest standard.
PayPal: still relevant, but rarely on its own
PayPal remains a name your customers know, and some prefer to pay with their PayPal account rather than enter a card number. On the other hand, setting up the merchant account can be laborious, the checkout flow often redirects visitors away from your site, and dispute management is a regular source of frustration. Our usual recommendation: offer PayPal as a second payment option, alongside Stripe, rather than as your main gateway.
Other options worth considering
- Square: worth a look if you already take in-person payments with a Square terminal. You then unify your in-store and online sales in a single system.
- Moneris: a well-established Canadian solution, often offered through the banks. Relevant mainly if you already have a business relationship with them.
- Helcim: a Canadian company whose volume-based pricing can become advantageous as your sales grow.
Fees: what to look at
Most gateways charge a percentage plus a fixed amount per transaction — often around 2.9% + $0.30 for an online card payment. The rate cards change regularly: always check current pricing before signing up. Beyond the base rate, pay attention to currency-conversion fees if you sell outside Canada, dispute fees (chargebacks) and rates that become negotiable above a certain volume. Good news: Stripe and PayPal have no base monthly fees — you pay per transaction.
Security and Law 25
With a properly integrated gateway, card numbers never pass through your site: they are processed directly by the provider, which takes on PCI compliance. That’s a real advantage for an SMB, because it shrinks your risk surface. Be careful, though: you remain responsible for the personal information your site otherwise collects (customer accounts, addresses, newsletters), an obligation governed in Quebec by Law 25. Regular maintenance of your store — updates, up-to-date payment plugins, monitoring — is part of the reasonable security measures expected of you.
Where to start?
If you’re launching or modernizing an online store, the choice of gateway comes down to your sales volume, your channels (online only, or in-store too) and your current tools. We can analyze your situation and set up the solution that will cost you the least to run. Tell us about your project: the conversation costs nothing.
