Helcim
Omnichannel commerce software
Payment processing software
Payment software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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Pay-as-you-go
Free Trial unavailable
Free version
Small
Medium
Large
- Retail and wholesale
- Accommodation and food services
- Arts, entertainment, and recreation
What is Helcim
Helcim is a payment processing platform that provides merchant accounts, card-present and card-not-present acceptance, invoicing, and recurring billing. It targets small to mid-sized businesses that want to take payments online, in-store, or via virtual terminal without relying on a separate gateway provider. The product combines payment processing with operational tools such as customer management, invoicing, and reporting. It also offers APIs and integrations to connect payments into custom checkout or back-office workflows.
Omnichannel payment acceptance
Helcim supports in-person payments (card readers/POS app) and remote payments (online checkout, virtual terminal, invoices, payment links). This helps businesses standardize payment operations across channels without stitching together multiple payment tools. It is suitable for service businesses and retailers that need both counter and remote collection methods.
Built-in invoicing and billing
The platform includes invoicing, recurring subscriptions, and stored customer payment profiles. These features reduce reliance on separate billing tools for common SMB workflows such as deposits, installment plans, and repeat services. Reporting ties payment activity back to customers and invoices for basic reconciliation.
Developer and integration options
Helcim provides APIs and integration capabilities to embed payments into websites or custom applications. This supports use cases like custom checkout flows, payment capture from internal systems, and automated billing. Compared with broader commerce suites, it focuses the integration surface on payments and related billing functions rather than full catalog and marketplace management.
Not a full commerce suite
Helcim focuses on payments and adjacent billing functions rather than end-to-end omnichannel commerce operations. It does not provide deep capabilities for product information management, marketplace listing, or multi-channel order management that dedicated commerce operations platforms offer. Businesses with complex catalog, fulfillment, or channel syndication needs typically require additional systems.
Limited contact-center capabilities
The product is not designed as a customer engagement or contact-center platform. It lacks advanced features such as omnichannel agent routing, workforce management, and conversation analytics found in specialized customer communication suites. Teams needing integrated sales/service communications will likely pair it with separate tools.
Hardware and regional fit constraints
Card-present acceptance depends on supported hardware and availability in the merchant’s operating region. Some organizations may find fewer device options or country coverage compared with larger global payment providers. Businesses should validate supported countries, currencies, and hardware models against their deployment requirements.
Plan & Pricing
Pricing model: Pay-as-you-go (Interchange-plus)
Discount tiers (card-present / card-not-present) — assigned by 3-month rolling average of monthly card volume:
- Tier 1 (Monthly volume $0 - $50,000): Card-present: Interchange + 0.40% + $0.08; Card-not-present: Interchange + 0.50% + $0.25
- Tier 2 (Monthly volume $50,001 - $100,000): Card-present: Interchange + 0.35% + $0.07; Card-not-present: Interchange + 0.45% + $0.20
- Tier 3 (Monthly volume $100,001 - $500,000): Card-present: Interchange + 0.25% + $0.07; Card-not-present: Interchange + 0.35% + $0.20
- Tier 4 (Monthly volume $500,001 - $1,000,000): Card-present: Interchange + 0.20% + $0.06; Card-not-present: Interchange + 0.25% + $0.15
- Tier 5 (Monthly volume $1,000,001+): Card-present: Interchange + 0.15% + $0.06; Card-not-present: Interchange + 0.15% + $0.15
ACH / Bank payments: 0.5% + $0.25 per approved transaction (fees capped at $6 for transactions below $25,000). For amounts above $25,000 a fee of 0.05% is charged on the excess portion.
Other fees & notes (official disclosures):
- Chargebacks: $15 USD per occurrence (fee refunded if merchant wins dispute).
- ACH rejects / NSF / returned transactions: $5 USD per occurrence.
- Helcim Card Reader (hardware): $199 USD (purchase).
- Helcim Smart Terminal (hardware): $349 USD (purchase) or 12 monthly payments of $32 USD.
- Tap to Pay on iPhone: $0.10 USD per approved transaction.
- Recurring payments: +0.4% per applicable recurring transaction.
- Level 2/3 Interchange Optimization: Helcim retains 30% of the optimization savings.
- Mobile Data Service Fee (for built-in LTE): $7 USD per month for a 50 MB allowance; overage charges may apply.
No subscription / setup / monthly fees and no contracts: Helcim states there are no setup fees, no monthly subscription fees, and no contract/cancellation fees; pricing is transaction-based. Also: merchants get access to Helcim’s payment tools with a free account.
Promotional note (official): Helcim highlights that new merchants may have their first $5,000 in payments processed at no charge (promotion noted on Helcim savings page).
Seller details
Helcim Inc.
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2006
Private
https://www.helcim.com/
https://x.com/helcim
https://www.linkedin.com/company/helcim/
