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Payzium.

Payzium vs Global Payments

Global Payments runs many Canadian merchant programs. Most merchants don't know what they're paying. Here's the math, and the fee structure under it.

Last updated: May 21, 2026

where Global Payments is genuinely the right call

Global Payments is one of the largest acquirers in North America. They operate directly under their own brand and behind many bank-bundled merchant programs in Canada. They have deep fraud tooling, broad currency support, and enterprise integrations that smaller processors don't match. If you're a multi-location operation with $1M+ per month in card volume on a negotiated agreement, you've likely already secured rates that work for your business. If you're a single-location SMB on a bank-channel Global Payments plan that you signed without rate negotiation, you're almost certainly paying for opacity.

the math at $40,000/month, 800 transactions

$792 vs $580. Same volume, same transactions, one published in writing.

Global Payments (typical bank-channel SMB)

  • Processing (credit, effective): ~2.6% × $28,000 = $728/mo
  • Processing (Interac debit): 10¢ × 240 tx = $24/mo
  • Monthly admin (statement, PCI, admin): $40/mo
  • Total: $792/mo

Payzium wholesale-plus

  • Processing (credit): ~1.91% × $28,000 + 5¢ × 560 tx = $563/mo
  • Processing (Interac debit): 5¢ × 240 tx = $12/mo
  • Merchant account: $5/mo
  • Total: $580/mo

Monthly savings with Payzium: about $212. Annual: about $2,544. And critically: every line on the Payzium side is published in writing. Every line on the Global Payments side has to be reverse-engineered from your statement.

assumes 70/30 credit/debit mix by volume, $50 average ticket, 800 transactions; Global Payments modeled at 2.6% effective credit rate (a typical bank-channel SMB plan), 10¢ flat per Interac debit, $40/mo in monthly admin fees; Payzium effective credit rate (~1.91%) = typical Canadian SMB interchange (~1.50%) + assessments (~0.11%) + 0.30% margin, plus 5¢ per credit tx, 5¢ flat per Interac debit tx, $5/month merchant account; varies by actual card mix. Pure processing comparison; terminal hardware not included on either side. Effective rates vary widely across Global Payments merchants; see Sources[1].

what you're actually paying for

Five line items merchants don't know they signed up for.

FTNQ. The surcharge that hides the real rate.

FTNQ stands for “Frais de transaction non qualifiée” (non-qualified transaction fee). When card types come through that don't fit the cheapest interchange bucket, Global Payments charges an additional surcharge. Rewards cards, business cards, and international cards all trigger FTNQ. On the merchant statement we reviewed[1], FTNQ added $247 on $35,000 in volume, roughly 0.7% on top of the headline rate. The headline rate is what you signed for. FTNQ is what you actually pay.

DATASECFEE. Compliance, billed as a hybrid fee.

A “data security” fee charged as a percentage of volume (around 0.23%) plus a per-transaction component (around $0.13 per op). On the reviewed statement[1], the combination came to $66 a month. The fee is for a security service you're not opting into and can't opt out of.

RISK ASMT. A fee for being a customer.

A “risk assessment” charge billed as a percentage of volume (around 0.18%) plus a per-transaction component (around $0.11 per op). Roughly $52 a month on the statement we reviewed[1]. The risk being assessed is yours, the charge is theirs.

PCI ADMIN. The compliance fee for compliance you do yourself.

PCI compliance is a self-assessment questionnaire merchants fill out annually. It costs $0 to complete yourself. Global Payments charges a PCI admin fee anyway, 0.10% of credit volume, which came to $19 a month on the reviewed statement[1]. The fee exists even when you complete your own PCI questionnaire.

Monthly admin, statement, and PCI evaluation fees.

$10 monthly admin. $5 statement fee. $5 PCI evaluation fee (FR ACC RES on the statement). On the reviewed statement[1], these totaled $20 a month before any processing happened. Multiply by 12 months: $240 a year in fees that bear no relationship to what was processed.

what leaving Global Payments actually involves

Bank-channel agreements add complexity. The 90-day Profit Guarantee covers most of it.

Most Global Payments agreements are 36-month or 60-month contracts with early termination fees in the $500 to $1,500 range. If you signed up through a bank, your merchant services agreement may be embedded in broader banking terms. We help you read the agreement before you cancel, and we coordinate the cancellation paperwork.

Our 90-day Profit Guarantee covers up to $1,000 of any ETF on your existing agreement. If yours is over $1,000, we cover the first $1,000, you cover the gap. And if we have not lowered your processing cost within the first 90 days, we refund our margin in full.

honest filter

Who should switch. Who should stay.

Switch to Payzium if

  • You don't know your current effective rate, or you have to look up a statement to find it
  • Your statement shows FTNQ, DATASECFEE, RISK ASMT, NETWKACCES, or PCI ADMIN line items
  • You signed up through your bank's merchant services without negotiating the rate
  • You want pricing math you can verify against published interchange

Stay on Global Payments if

  • You have a negotiated effective rate under 1.8% on a plan you've verified
  • You're enterprise with $1M+/month already on a custom contract
  • You depend on Global Payments-specific integrations Payzium doesn't have yet
  • Your bank-channel agreement is bundled with banking services you actively use and aren't paying separately for

what switching looks like

Five steps. We do the paperwork.

  1. We read your most recent Global Payments statement with you and confirm what you're actually paying, including FTNQ and admin fees.
  2. We prepare the cancellation paperwork specific to your channel (direct Global Payments, bank-bundled, or otherwise) and walk you through filing it.
  3. We ship the terminal day-of-approval.
  4. You keep your bank account.
  5. We handle the tax-rate setup and recurring-billing migration. You go live in 24 to 48 hours.

Honest math

Honest math. Decide from there.

Wholesale-plus pricing at interchange + 0.30% + 5¢ Tier 1 margin, with a 90-day Profit Guarantee in writing. No setup fee, no contract, no PCI fee, no monthly minimum, no FTNQ surcharge.

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common questions

Questions merchants ask before leaving Global Payments

How do I know if I'm on Global Payments?

Check your merchant statement. If the header shows 'Global Payments' or 'Paiements Globaux Canada SENC', you're a direct Global Payments merchant. If you signed up for merchant services through your bank, you may also be on Global Payments rails without seeing the Global Payments brand on your statement. The clearest signal is line items like 'FTNQ' (frais de transaction non qualifiée), 'DATASECFEE', or 'NETWKACCES' on your statement, which are Global Payments-specific fee names.

What is FTNQ on my statement?

FTNQ stands for 'Frais de transaction non qualifiée' (non-qualified transaction fee). It's a surcharge Global Payments adds when card types come through that don't qualify for the cheapest interchange bucket. Rewards cards, business cards, and certain card brands all trigger FTNQ. On a typical SMB statement we reviewed, FTNQ added approximately 0.7% to the effective rate, on top of the headline pricing.

How long is my Global Payments contract?

Most Global Payments merchant agreements run 36 to 60 months with early termination fees. The ETF varies by plan and is often $500 to $1,500. Bank-channel agreements (where your bank resells Global Payments) may have additional cancellation considerations tied to your banking relationship. Our 90-day Profit Guarantee covers up to $1,000 of any ETF. If yours is over $1,000, we cover the first $1,000, you cover the gap.

What hardware do I need to keep, switch, or buy?

Global Payments-issued terminals are typically returned at end of contract or end of lease. Some terminals are unlocked and can move to other processors; many are not. We tell you exactly which of your hardware carries over before you commit. Payzium hardware is purchased outright at transparent pricing rather than leased.

Why is my effective rate higher than my contract rate?

Your contract probably quotes a 'qualified' or 'tier 1' rate that applies only to specific card types and conditions. Rewards cards, business cards, international cards, and keyed-entry transactions trigger FTNQ surcharges that raise your effective rate. On top of that, monthly admin fees (statement fee, PCI admin, data security, network access) are not part of the rate calculation but raise your all-in cost. The headline rate and the effective rate are rarely the same number.

What does the 90-day Profit Guarantee cover if I'm coming from Global Payments?

Two things. It covers up to $1,000 of any early termination fee on your existing Global Payments agreement. And if Payzium has not lowered your processing cost within the first 90 days, we refund our margin in full. The guarantee runs for the first 90 days and is not rolling.

Sources

  1. [1] Sample Global Payments SMB merchant statement reviewed during diligence in May 2026. Merchant volume approximately $35,000/month, 106 transactions, statement period November 2024. Merchant-identifying details redacted. Statement showed effective processing rate of 1.40%, plus FTNQ surcharge of $247, monthly admin fees totaling $20.30. Effective rates vary widely across Global Payments merchants; figures on this page represent typical bank-channel SMB plans. Verified 2026-05-21.
  2. [2] Global Payments Canada interchange and pricing reference. https://go.globalpayments.com/fr-ca/taux_interchange. Verified 2026-05-21.