Canada First serves industries from all business sectors and in all sizes – no request is too small or too big. We provide a wide variety processing options and platforms and we’ll help you choose the best one for your unique business needs.

if you have your merchant account with us you’ll have 24/7 access to our customer support team. Our goal is to develop and nurture long-term relationships with both our merchants and banking partners. We construct individually crafted payment processing solutions with the most technologically advanced and secure equipment on the market.

We’re not the only payment processor in the market. What separates us from the others is that instead of using several different service providers, such as Square for mobile and PayPal for eCommerce, when you choose us you use our easy-to-use platform to accept payments in whichever way you want for your business.

The question you really want to ask is “What do I get out of doing business with you?”.

The answer is “You get a lot”.

Unlike most credit card processors, we care and we know how to save you money. We know how to get you the lowest rates. We understand how your business works and we make sure that you get the best credit card processing at the best rates possible.

We pride ourselves on our ability to provide customized payment processing solutions for even the most unique merchant accounts. We don’t try to fit you into some standard credit card processing plan. We’ll customize a credit card processing solution so you get exactly what you need at a price that is fair and transparent.

That’s because it matters as much to us as it does to you. We make money when you make money. We know that means making sure that you get the best service as well as the best rates.

Any Other Reasons?

There are many reasons to want to work with us. We suggest starting with a phone call. You’ll see very early on in our conversation that we are people who really know credit card processing. We challenge you to call us and stump with your toughest merchant account questions.

You’ll see that we are real people just like yourself, and much like yourself have a sincere interest in doing a good job and providing a valuable service to customers. We want to be your merchant services provider, and we want to help you succeed. If you want to know how we can do that give us a call and we’ll be happy to help.

You’ll get advice from a representative who’ll take the time to carefully analyze your individual business needs. We’ll help you review your present processing arrangements.

We’re able to compare your current processing package to any number of alternatives in order to ensure that you get the best credit card processing deal possible with the most appropriate blend of processing services for your unique business needs.

While we’re a team of highly trained consultants in the field merchant accounts and credit card processing, the person who will work with you will be assigned to help your business for the lifetime of your account. You’ll know them on a first name basis and they’ll understand your business and what matters to you. Most importantly, they have the ability and the authority to help you with any issue that comes up and quickly solve any problems that might arise..

We are a merchant account broker. We’re not exclusive to any one credit card processing company or financial institution. Instead, we work with a diverse network of payment processors utilizing some of the largest banks in the world. As such, we are in a position to offer you the best deal on a merchant account for your specific business, whether you have a brick and mortar location, operate online only, or have a combination of both.

This flexibility is why we’re able to offer credit card processing rates that are significantly lower than other processors. Where others processors are only able to place merchant accounts through one banking platform, we have the advantage of being able to place our merchant accounts on the credit card processing platform that is the best match for your business. We have the ability to provide credit card processing pricing that is lower and will significantly reduce your processing costs.

We Want You To Succeed

We only make money when our clients process transactions successfully. So it’s an incentive to us to help make your business successful. There is an incentive for us to help you be successful. The incentive is that we provide accounts at or close to cost for all our clients, only breaking even until they start processing. So quite literally, we are successful if you are successful. Fortunately for us, we are very good at helping our clients get set up for cost effective credit and debit card processing.

New merchants often wonder why they have to apply to get a merchant account. The short answer is that it’s the way banks manage the risk involved in advancing funds to a merchant before those funds are collected from the customer by the credit card company.

The banks consider certain products and services as higher risk than others. How does this impact you? Here’s the simplest explanation of how banks assess risk when evaluating your application for a merchant account.

When you process a credit card transaction the bank transfers the funds the sale of your product or service from your merchant account to your business bank account. Even though the transaction appears complete at your end, it really isn’t because your customer can raise a dispute regarding the purchase with their card issuing bank for 4 months past the date of the transaction.

Why? It’s because of the consumer protection laws that are built into credit card transactions. Disputes can occur for any number of reasons including: the product was not received, the product was not as described, or there was an unauthorized use of their credit card. This means that long after you have received the money from this transaction, your processor is still exposed to liability from such potential disputes.

These disputes are called “chargebacks”. If there is a dispute, and if the card issuing bank rules in the favour of the cardholder then the funds must be returned to the cardholder. If, for some reason the merchant is not able to repay the funds from that transaction then the processor is liable for that transaction. That’s where the processor is exposed to risk and that’s why every merchant must complete an application.

If the product or service being sold is the kind that is likely to result in disputes, then the bank is more likely to require security holdbacks or additional information before giving your merchant account application its approval. Generally speaking all low risk products and services are approved very quickly. Most merchants selling household goods and services are considered low risk and are easily approved.

The businesses we do not support are those offering high risk services such as pornography or online gambling, and if your business falls outside of these areas you should receive quick and easy approval.

With regards to the application process itself, we understand that some providers have a long and complicated application process. By listening and responding to our customer feedback we have developed one of the easiest and most streamlined applications in the industry. The amount of paperwork required is minimal and you can be approved within 3 business days, sometimes within hours.

If you’re a business operating in Canada or the U.S – you’re eligible for a Canada First account! We assess businesses on a case by case basis because we know that every business is unique. Generally Canada First is great if your business processes over $40,000/year in credit card volume or if you are interested in expanding your business.

We have a simple and merchant friendly application process. The application paperwork is minimal.

First, visit here to fill out your personal and business information, and one of our Advisors will be contact you within one business day. Or you can simply call us at 888-361-6664. We’ll send you a short questionnaire so that you can provide us with your basic business information, (name, address, phone, website)…and some details about how your business operates (physical location, online transactions, amount of processing you expect to do). Based on the information you provide, we’ll prepare your application form and email it to you for your review and signature.

You’ll then sign and return your application, along with a copy of your ID (like a driver’s license) and a Void Cheque for your business banking account (Used to confirm your banking institution and funding into your business bank account.)

Depending on the nature of your business and whether you’re a startup or have been in business for a while, we may also ask for a Certificate of Incorporation, Business Registration or Business License, which are used to confirm existence of your business entity. We may also ask for three months of processing statements or Business or Personal Banking Statements.

The process of applying and being approved for your merchant account is incredibly fast and simple. You can be fully approved within a few business hours, although if your business is new or in a higher risk category, approval may take a few days.

Typically, an application is approved within 3-5 business days. Account set-up and customer onboarding occur after approval, and you can start processing whenever you’re ready.

To a large extent you are in control of how long the approval process will take. The most important issue to remember is that you must provide all the necessary paperwork (agreement and supporting documents) before your approval can be issued. Once we have received a complete application package the approval can be given from within a few hours to a few days.

Note that if you provide a particularly high risk product or service, or if your trading volumes are particularly high the review process may take slightly longer. If you are working on a tight timeframe and need a quick approval you can request an escalation in the review of your application. You should contact our customer service team if you require an expedited review.

We pride ourselves in working closely with every client. This close working relationship enables us to establish a good understanding of your business, and helping you to get approved far more quickly and easily than would otherwise be possible. Ultimately, our clients are likely to find the application review streamlined and easy to complete, with a tremendous amount of support available throughout the process.

It is for this reason that we can approve merchants that other providers often cannot – even if you have bad credit it will not prevent approval. The entire process is designed (and is constantly being refined based on customer feedback) to be extremely fast and simple.

Almost all typical household goods and services can be quickly and easily approved. If you have any questions about the products or services you are offering do not hesitate to contact us. Keep in mind that we offer an approval guarantee. There is no risk when applying because we do not charge any upfront fees at all in order to open an account.

You don’t have to be or own a corporation in order to be approved for a merchant account. The only requirement is that you must have a business bank account in the country in which your business is based. Any type of legal business entity can use our credit card processing services including proprietorships, partnerships, charities and corporations. Our merchant account solutions are available to merchants located in Canada, USA, UK, Australia, Germany and Japan. Other countries can be supported on a case by case basis.

Our focus is primarily on the Canadian merchant services market, however, we have a large international client base and in particular work with merchants in the United States, the UK, Australia and many other countries. Because we support so many different payment currencies our processing solutions are particularly desirable for international merchants.

We include everything that is needed to accept debit and credit cards. Whether you need a traditional wired credit card machine, a wireless, mobile or portable credit card processing terminal, or a comprehensive Point of Sale system, we can quickly get you started with a merchant account and the equipment you need to accept debit and credit cards and make managing your business a breeze.

If you’re an E-commerce merchant, you’ll receive both a merchant account and payment gateway access for secure, real time credit card processing.

If you’re a merchant using our Virtual Terminal you’ll be able to process transactions using a computer, iPhone, Android phone or tablet, BlackBerry or any device with an internet connection. With every one of our services you receive everything you need to process credit cards. For merchants looking for a more advanced integration they can choose from over one hundred pre-compatible shopping carts, or you can build your own custom integration.

Click here to find out more about our services, what you get, and how much it costs.

You can process all major credit and debit cards including Visa and MasterCard. We can also process American Express transactions, however only American Express can issue the merchant ID, which you must get from American Express directly if you wish to support AMEX payments, however, we can easily do this for you in conjunction with your merchant account application.

Square is an aggregator, which means that you accept payments using their merchant account and are these are bundled into that account with the payments of other small businesses. Canada First, on the other hand, is a merchant account provider, so we provide you with your own dedicated merchant account with customized pricing and service plans that are unique to your business.

When you get approved for your merchant account, you’ll get access to our reporting and account management panel that will provide you with complete access to all your transaction information. Reports can be setup for customized delivery and if desired can be imported directly into your accounting software. If requested, hard copy paper based statements can be provided by mail on a monthly basis, although you might incur an additional charge for this service.

We offer in multi-currency processing if you need it , and support every major payment currency worldwide including:
CAD
USD
GBP
EUR
AUD
NZD
JPY
CNY
… and over 50 additional currencies.

Allowing your customers to pay in their local currency will help to build your credibility and remove their concerns when making a purchase. It can ultimately drive a significant increase in sales.

Unlike most processors, we don’t charge additional fees for processing multiple currencies. Learn about our multi-currency processing solution, or contact us to discuss multi-currency payments for your business.

Yes it will. When you provide your application information, one of the questions that we ask is “What is your desired trading name?”. You can choose either your company name, or your website name if you prefer. You have full control over what you wish to appear on your customers credit card statement.

Yes, as with all banks there is a fee for chargebacks. A chargeback is a disputed transaction between a merchant and their customer, where the customer has requested Visa or MasterCard to forcibly reverse the charges for the transaction.

The best way to avoid chargebacks is by maintaining great customer service. It is important to maintain a minimal number of chargebacks not just to avoid unnecessary fees, but to keep your account and business reputation in good standing with your customers.

In order to accept credit card payments online, you must connect your website to a payment gateway so that your payments can be processed. You will have several different options to choose from in terms of how you choose to connect your website to the payment gateway.

Shopping Cart Programs: Most merchants choose to use one of the many compatible shopping carts that work with the payment gateway. This is the fastest and easiest way to get started because there is no programming required. You can learn more about our compatible shopping carts here. If you need help selecting the right cart for your project contact us.

Custom Integrations: We are able to provide technical documentation for webmasters who wish to develop a custom integration with the gateway.

While your credit card processor will have their own security measures in place for processing credit cards through their payment gateway, there are a few things that you should do to ensure the security of your customers’ credit card information.

— Don’t store any cardholder data unless absolutely necessary.
If your website uses Standard/HTML integration you won’t have access to any cardholder data when processing online transactions. The customer enters their cardholder information while they are connected to the payment server. This makes it impossible for you, the merchant, to come into contact with any cardholder data when processing online transactions. More advanced methods of integration are available, but unless you need it, why would you want to store credit card data and expose yourself to additional liability.

— Provide clear and easy to find contact information on your website. If customers have questions or concerns they need to be able to speak to someone in your organization. This will make it easier for your customers to purchase, and they can do so with greater confidence knowing that yours is a legitimate operation with good customer service.

— Maintain a customer friendly refund policy. Online customers are more likely to purchase when they know they’ll receive a quality product or service with a clear and reasonable refund policy attached. Your customers will be able to purchase with confidence and this will minimize the likelihood of potential disputes with customers, and decrease the possibility of chargebacks.

We include a payment gateway at no additional cost as a part of our complete e-commerce payment processing solution. We also support many 3rd party gateways because some merchants have software that requires a specific integration.

Supported payment gateways include:
Authorize.net
Beanstream
Cybersource
FXConcierge
Netbilling
NMI
PSiGate
WorldPay

The above list is not comprehensive. If you require a gateway not on the list it may already be supported. Not all gateways are available to merchants in all countries. Furthermore, not all payment gateways are multi-currency compatible. Contact us for the latest list of compatible gateways, and to discuss the technical / integration requirements of your project.

Adding a way to accept payments to your website is easy. There are several integration methods available to suit your specific needs. For small businesses we offer a simple HTML based integration, which is one of the easiest methods of integration in the industry. Corporate clients can build a direct API connection to the payment gateway to retain total control over the checkout process.

The available options include:

1) You can use one of many compatible shopping cart programs. If you need help selecting a shopping cart do not hesitate to contact our support team.

2) Advanced users can build their own custom integration. With this method of integration you can retain complete control over the user session (if desired) and can program in any special functionality you may require.

Shopping cart software keeps track of the items your customer wants to buy as they browse your website. Some shopping carts can also perform more advanced functions such as inventory tracking and advanced tax and shipping calculations. Merchants that process a large number of transactions, or those with a high processing turnover should definitely use a shopping cart.

The available options include:

1) You can use one of many compatible shopping cart programs. If you need help selecting a shopping cart do not hesitate to contact our support team.

2) Advanced users can build their own custom integration. With this method of integration you can retain complete control over the user session (if desired) and can program in any special functionality you may require.

There are many shopping cart programs available that are compatible with the payment gateway. This makes it simple to complete your integration because no programming or customization is required. You can see a comprehensive list here.

Yes, recurring billing is fully supported and is easy to implement. There are several recurring billing integration options including methods in which you do not have to store any credit card information. This is an important benefit for merchants that want to minimize contact with sensitive cardholder data.

Recurring billing requirements vary. For example, you might want to initiate and bill a customer’s credit card each month for a unique amount based upon some type of usage fee. Other businesses may need the recurring billing system to process a fixed amount on the same day every month, like in the case of a fitness membership or other subscription service.

The recurring billing system is extremely flexible and can support 1-off, merchant initiated, fully automatic, dynamic amounts, batch upload and other recurring billing requirements. We encourage you to contact us to discuss your specific recurring billing requirements with us.

Yes, you can order a virtual terminal which will enable you to use your computer, or browser on your tablet or smart phone to securely key in transaction details on behalf of your customers. This solution can be used for trade shows, telephone orders, or any other customer interaction where payment is not able to be collected through your website.

E-commerce security can be simple or complex depending on how you set up your online payment system. Although our payment processing systems are able to support any type of integration, we recommend that small business owners take a simple approach to e-commerce security by using a method of integration that makes it impossible to touch, receive or store their customers’ credit card information.

This form of integration means that you won’t have access to, or be able to store any sensitive information because your customers will enter their card details while they are directly connected to payment gateway. All you will see is that the transaction has been processed, but not the details of the customer’s form of payment.

If you wish to process payments securely and not directly deal with your customers’ credit card information, then you can easily use our services to integrate your website’s payment page with our secure payment gateway. You’ll have the ability to upload your graphics to the payment server and can completely customize the look and feel of the page so your customer will not be able to tell that they have in fact left your site and are directly connected to the payment gateway.

Your customer will enter their credit card details on this secure page. When they press the “Submit Payment” button the transaction details are securely encrypted and passed directly from their computer to the payment gateway. At no time will any part of this process be handled from your website. All information will pass directly from your customers’ browsers to the banks’ payment servers.

The gateway will check to see if the cardholder has sufficient funds, and, if so, the customer will automatically be directed back to your website. When the customer is taken back to your website you’ll receive all of the transaction information — except for the cardholder data. In place of the credit card number you get a reference ID for the transaction. All cardholder data is stripped away and it is impossible for you to have access to this information.

Your shopping cart software will know everything it needs to complete the order, and you will have done so without ever touching, seeing or storing any cardholder data. The reference ID you receive with the approval message can be used later in your control panel if you need to perform a refund or look up a transaction amount.

If you eliminate your ability to come into contact with your customers’ credit card information, you’ve gone a long way towards making sure you’ve implemented a secure e-commerce solution.

We provide extremely secure, bank endorsed, real-time credit card processing that uses a range of industry leading security technology, including AVS and CVV2.

AVS – AVS stands for “Address Verification”. This is a unique anti-fraud mechanism, that verifies the billing address the user enters matches the actual cardholder’s address on record at the issuing bank.

CVV2 – CVV2 stands for “Card Verification Value”. This is a 3 digit number found on the back of the customers credit card. This number provides an additional layer of validation as the customer must have the credit card physically present, in order to determine the CVV2 number.

The processing centre is securely linked to processing banks worldwide, who handle the credit card authorizations online and process the transactions in real time.

Most importantly, we have carefully developed our processing solution in a way that ensures the merchant will never come into contact with any credit card numbers whatsoever.

Merchants using the HTML method of integration cannot come into contact with sensitive information because credit card numbers are entered while the user is directly on a page hosted by the payment gateway. Because the credit card numbers are never seen by the merchant, and are not stored or recorded in any way, this removes the possibility of credit card numbers being lost or stolen. This greatly reduces the risk of liability for the merchant and increases security for the customer.

The payment system fully supports 3DSecure – Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode.

Verified by Visa is an additional layer of password protection on top of the standard anti-fraud protections built into the gateway. Verified by Visa is an interesting and favorable security feature for online merchants because if a transaction has been validated using Verified by Visa cardholders cannot claim that the transaction was unauthorized. This shifts some of the risk from the merchant onto the cardholder, making it a very desirable security feature for online merchants.

The Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode service is included at no additional charge.

SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer. SSL is a method of encryption that is used to protect sensitive data as it is passed across the internet. Modern SSL encryption is so strong that it has been calculated that a 128 bit symmetric key would, on average, take more time to crack by brute force than the solar system has left before the sun goes nova and swallows the earth.

The type of integration you choose to use is up to you. SSL is required depending on the type of integration you choose to implement. If you choose HTML integration, your customer’s credit card numbers are entered while the user is on a page hosted directly by the secure payment gateway, thus SSL is not required. However, if you decide to use the more advanced XML integration, you will require a SSL certificate and you will also need to demonstrate PCI compliance.

If you’re not sure which type of integration is a better choice for your business, don’t hesitate to contact a customer service representative for assistance.

The virtual terminal works over the internet. You start by logging into your secure control panel. The control panel can be accessed using any standard web browser and is not just limited to computer use. Any mobile device such as a smart phone or tablet that is capable of browsing the internet can also be used to process payments with the virtual terminal.

Once logged into your secure control panel the system will let you to click on a “Make Payment” link. From this page you enter the cardholder’s name, address, credit card number and expiry date. As soon as you press the submit button the payment is processed in real time. Once the payment is processed you don’t need to retain any credit card information because you’ll get a unique reference number for that specific transaction. This reference number can be used in the future should you need to perform a refund or pull up the details about the transaction. As a result, there is no storage of sensitive credit card information. Virtual terminal payments are among the most simple, efficient and easy to use of any method of processing credit card payments.

You can use the virtual terminal anywhere that an internet connection is available. This includes any mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet. Using the internet, you simply log into your secure control panel and key in the order. Mobile payments are easy and only take a few seconds to process with the virtual terminal.

The virtual terminal runs on exactly the same system as our e-commerce payment gateway. When using the virtual terminal you do not store any sensitive cardholder information. All data is encrypted with strong SSL encryption. The virtual terminal is an extremely secure way of processing credit card sales.

At the transaction level, the virtual terminal supports some of the most advanced fraud protection tools available. When entering an order you have the option of including your customer’s billing address. If you type in the billing address it will enable an AVS (address verification) check to see if the address that the customer supplied matches the information that the card issuing bank has on file for that cardholder.

Every credit card has an additional three digit security code called a CVV (card verification value) number written on the back. If you get the customer to provide the CVV number we can run an additional CVV check to make sure that it is a legitimate transaction. These options are always available, but never required, so if you have a repeat customer and are looking to process the sale as quickly as possible, you don’t have to collect the billing address or CVV number each time.

When you type in the credit card number you are entering it directly into a page that is hosted by the bank’s payment server. You don’t store any credit card information on your computer. Although you don’t store the credit card number you can still take advantage of the recurring billing feature without having to store your customer’s credit card information on your computer.

Recurring billing is fully supported. With the recurring billing feature you can automatically charge a customer in any amount, on any billing period you desire. You don’t need to store any credit card information in order to do it. Our payment server will store all of the sensitive credit card information and send you a transaction report each day for your accounting purposes. This is great for businesses that have a subscription model and want to automate the recurring billing of customers, without having to store sensitive cardholder data.

No, you don’t need to have a website in order to use the virtual terminal. You access it by logging into your secure control panel which you will be given access to once your merchant account application has been approved. There are no special requirements. Any business can quickly and easily begin processing virtual terminal payments.

You can upgrade your merchant account to add e-commerce payments to your website at any time. In fact, this is a very common course that many of our clients choose because they can begin using the virtual terminal immediately while their website is under construction.