Helcim vs Dharma Merchant Services
Last updated: September 2, 2026
Helcim
A-
Helcim is a Calgary-based payment processing company that offers genuinely transparent interchange-plus pricing with no monthly fees, no hidden charges, and a comprehensive suite of free payment tools.
Dharma Merchant Services
A-
A small, long-running ISO that publishes its entire interchange-plus margin, charges $20 a month, and imposes no contract and no early termination fee. The catch is fit, not conduct: it declines high-risk verticals, is uneconomic below a few thousand dollars a month, and supports merchants only during business hours.
VS
Overview
Helcim and Dharma are the two US processors that publish a real interchange-plus margin on their own websites instead of quoting it, which makes them directly comparable in a way most merchant accounts are not. Dharma's markup is lower on every transaction type; Helcim charges nothing fixed at all. The whole decision turns on volume: Dharma's $20 monthly fee costs more than the markup it saves until roughly $8,000 a month in card-present volume, after which it turns cheaper and keeps widening. Helcim wins on everything around the rate — published hardware prices, next-business-morning deposits, longer support hours and self-serve signup.
Key Takeaways
- ✓Dharma's in-person markup is lower: interchange + 0.15% + $0.08 against Helcim's interchange + 0.40% + 8¢ at the entry tier.
- ✓Dharma also wins online: interchange + 0.20% + $0.11 against Helcim's interchange + 0.50% + 25¢.
- ✓Dharma turns cheaper above roughly $8,000 a month in card-present volume, the point where its 0.25% lower markup repays the $20 monthly fee.
- ✓Helcim charges nothing fixed — $0 monthly, $0 PCI, $0 setup, $0 to close — while Dharma charges $20 a month and $49 to close an account.
- ✓Helcim is far easier to reach: phone support Monday to Saturday against Dharma's Monday to Thursday 9–4 and Friday 9–2 Eastern.
Helcim
Helcim suits newer and smaller merchants who want zero fixed cost, published hardware prices, an all-in-one platform and support available six days a week.
Dharma Merchant Services
Dharma suits established small businesses and nonprofits processing more than about $8,000 a month, where the lower margin comfortably outweighs the $20 monthly fee.
The Verdict
It Depends on Your Needs
Why?
This one genuinely splits on volume, and the crossover is easy to calculate. Dharma's in-person margin is 0.25 percentage points below Helcim's entry tier at identical per-transaction cents, so Helcim costs an extra $0.25 per $100 processed while Dharma costs an extra $20 a month. The two meet at $8,000 a month in card-present volume; below that Helcim is cheaper, above it Dharma pulls ahead and keeps going — at $50,000 a month the margin difference is $125 against a $20 fee. Online the gap is wider still, so the crossover comes sooner. Everything that is not the rate favours Helcim: no closure fee, a $15 refundable chargeback fee against $25, published hardware prices, next-business-morning deposits, an all-in-one platform it builds itself, and support six days a week against Dharma's four-and-a-half. Both are graded A- here, both publish their margins, and neither uses a contract or an equipment lease — so a merchant cannot really go wrong. Pick Dharma if you are established and doing volume; pick Helcim if you are starting out, want no fixed cost, or care about being able to reach someone.
Feature by feature
Detailed Comparison
Filter Options
Pricing model and rates
| Feature | Helcim | Dharma Merchant Services |
|---|---|---|
| In-person markup (entry tier) | Interchange + 0.40% + 8¢ | Interchange + 0.15% + $0.08 Winner |
| Both publish the margin above interchange rather than a blended rate. Helcim's entry tier covers $0–$50,000 a month; Dharma charges the same 0.15% regardless of volume until the high-volume tier. | ||
| Online and keyed markup (entry tier) | Interchange + 0.50% + 25¢ | Interchange + 0.20% + $0.11 Winner |
| Dharma includes AVS at no charge in the card-not-present rate. | ||
| Best published high-volume markup | 0.15% + 6¢ in person, from $1M a month | 0.10% + $0.08 in person, from $100K a month Winner |
| Helcim steps down in five volume bands starting at $50,000 a month. Dharma reaches its floor at $100,000 a month, 5,000 transactions a month, or a restaurant average ticket under $25. Dharma's percentage is lower and reached at a tenth of the volume; Helcim's 6¢ per authorisation is 2¢ below Dharma's, so on very small tickets the two converge — at a $10 average sale Helcim's top tier is actually the cheaper of the two. | ||
| Nonprofit pricing | None published | 0.10% + $0.08 in person, 0.10% + $0.11 online, $15 a month Winner |
| Dharma publishes a standing nonprofit rate for registered organisations at any volume. Helcim publishes no separate nonprofit schedule. | ||
| ACH / bank transfer | 0.5% + 25¢, capped at $6 Winner | Not published |
| Helcim also charges $5 per ACH rejection. Dharma does not publish an ACH rate on its rates and fees pages. | ||
In-person markup (entry tier)
Helcim
Interchange + 0.40% + 8¢
Dharma Merchant Services
Interchange + 0.15% + $0.08
Winner
Both publish the margin above interchange rather than a blended rate. Helcim's entry tier covers $0–$50,000 a month; Dharma charges the same 0.15% regardless of volume until the high-volume tier.
Online and keyed markup (entry tier)
Helcim
Interchange + 0.50% + 25¢
Dharma Merchant Services
Interchange + 0.20% + $0.11
Winner
Dharma includes AVS at no charge in the card-not-present rate.
Best published high-volume markup
Helcim
0.15% + 6¢ in person, from $1M a month
Dharma Merchant Services
0.10% + $0.08 in person, from $100K a month
Winner
Helcim steps down in five volume bands starting at $50,000 a month. Dharma reaches its floor at $100,000 a month, 5,000 transactions a month, or a restaurant average ticket under $25. Dharma's percentage is lower and reached at a tenth of the volume; Helcim's 6¢ per authorisation is 2¢ below Dharma's, so on very small tickets the two converge — at a $10 average sale Helcim's top tier is actually the cheaper of the two.
Nonprofit pricing
Helcim
None published
Dharma Merchant Services
0.10% + $0.08 in person, 0.10% + $0.11 online, $15 a month
Winner
Dharma publishes a standing nonprofit rate for registered organisations at any volume. Helcim publishes no separate nonprofit schedule.
ACH / bank transfer
Helcim
0.5% + 25¢, capped at $6
Winner
Dharma Merchant Services
Not published
Helcim also charges $5 per ACH rejection. Dharma does not publish an ACH rate on its rates and fees pages.
Best For Your Business
Recommendations based on your business type
New business processing under $5,000 a month
Recommended
Helcim
Below the $8,000 crossover Dharma's $20 monthly fee costs more than its lower margin saves, and Helcim charges nothing at all when a slow month arrives. Signup is self-serve, and the $199 reader is the only outlay.
Established retailer taking $25,000 a month in person
Recommended
Dharma Merchant Services
The 0.25-point margin difference is worth about $62 a month at that volume, so Dharma nets roughly $42 a month cheaper after its $20 fee — and the gap grows with every additional dollar processed.
Registered nonprofit
Recommended
Dharma Merchant Services
Dharma publishes a standing nonprofit rate of 0.10% + $0.08 in person and 0.10% + $0.11 online with a reduced $15 monthly fee, available at any volume. Helcim publishes no nonprofit schedule.
E-commerce-only merchant
Recommended
Dharma Merchant Services
Dharma's card-not-present margin of 0.20% + $0.11 including AVS is well under Helcim's 0.50% + 25¢, which is a large gap on online volume. Budget for a gateway decision, though: Dharma routes e-commerce through a third-party gateway such as Authorize.Net, while Helcim's own platform handles it.
Business that needs support outside weekday office hours
Recommended
Helcim
Helcim answers the phone until 5pm Mountain on weekdays and on Saturdays. Dharma's switchboard closes at 4pm Eastern Monday to Thursday and 2pm on Friday, which is a genuine constraint for a weekend retailer or a restaurant.
Merchant that wants one vendor for payments, invoicing and an online store
Recommended
Helcim
Helcim builds its own platform and includes the virtual terminal, invoicing, online store and customer manager at no software cost. Dharma includes MX Merchant, which covers the virtual terminal and payment links, but a full storefront means adding a gateway.
Helcim: Best for 3 use cases
Dharma Merchant Services: Best for 3 use cases
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this comparison
It depends on how much you process. Dharma's markup over interchange is lower — 0.15% + $0.08 in person against Helcim's 0.40% + 8¢ — but Dharma charges $20 a month and Helcim charges nothing. The 0.25-point difference repays the $20 fee at about $8,000 a month in card-present volume. Under that, Helcim is cheaper; over it, Dharma, by a widening margin. If most of your volume is online the crossover comes sooner, because the rate gap there is 0.30 points plus 14¢ a transaction.
No. Neither requires a term commitment, neither charges an early termination fee, and neither leases equipment — the lease is how most merchant accounts create a multi-year lock-in. The one thing to know is that Dharma charges a $49 fee when you close an account, whenever you close it. Helcim charges nothing to leave.
Access to the account and the MX Merchant platform, which includes a virtual terminal, online reporting, mobile processing, payment links and stored card data. Dharma charges no annual fee, no monthly minimum, no PCI compliance fee, no batch fee and no AVS fee on top of it. High-volume and nonprofit accounts pay $15 a month instead of $20.
Helcim advertises next-business-morning deposits at no extra charge. Dharma states next-day funding for card-present merchants and does not publish a funding time for card-not-present transactions, so ask before you sign if most of your sales are online or keyed.
Because both quote interchange-plus and publish the plus. Interchange and card-network assessments are the same wholesale costs for every processor and get passed through at cost; the only thing a provider controls is its own margin. Most merchant accounts bundle that margin into a blended or tiered rate you cannot see. Helcim and Dharma print theirs on the pricing page, which is why the comparison above can be made from published figures rather than quotes.
Not reliably, and neither company promises it. Helcim sells its own card reader at $199 and a smart terminal at $349, and its platform is built around them. Dharma sells terminals and Clover hardware outright at quoted prices and states it does not lease equipment. Assume you will buy hardware as part of the switch, and treat that as a one-off cost against the ongoing rate saving.
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