Comparing Stripe, Square, and PayPal for International Payments in Canada

Stripe®, Square®, and PayPal® are popular payment providers in Canada. You can use each of these platforms to send and receive your money abroad or take international payments from customers.

Let’s take a look at Stripe vs Square vs PayPal in Canada – including everything you need to know about international fees and key features for businesses.

We’ll also take a look at Wise as your easy to use alternative. Choose Wise to help your business go global.

Stripe

Stripe is an online payment processing platform available for businesses in 47 countries, including Canada.¹ Once you’ve set up an account, you can use Stripe to receive international payments from a range of countries and regions, with options to accept physical and digital transfers.

Stripe is currently rated 2.9 on Trustpilot® Canada (as of 16 November 2023), with user-friendly features and convenient integration benefits.²

There are a few key features for international businesses. You can:

• use Stripe in 135+ currencies
• charge customers in their native currency while receiving funds in Canadian dollars (CAD)³
• set up global acquiring to access local transaction rates and multiple Stripe accounts¹
• Batch multiple transactions from one customer into a single charge, reducing your fees per transaction¹³

However, you may find that Stripe charges for many transactions. Each successful Stripe card charge costs 2.9% + 0.30 CAD. If currency conversion is required, you’ll also pay an additional 2% charge per transaction.⁴

Square Payments

Your business can use Square for invoicing, online payments, or in-person transactions – with unique reporting tools to track company sales and cash flow.

Rated 3.9 on Trustpilot Canada (as of 16 November 2023), there are a few key advantages to Square for businesses of all shapes and sizes.⁵ Use your Square account to:

• take credit and debit card payments from customers – including international cards
• offer “Buy Now, Pay Later” with Afterpay®, letting your customers pay in 4 instalments, while you get your money straight away⁶
• access financial tools and software to better understand your business cash flow

However, Square may not work for you if you regularly conduct business abroad, as you can only accept card transactions in the country where you first activated your Square account.

You can create multiple Square accounts for payments in different countries, but you’ll need to meet any requirements for each account, such as a valid Social Security Number for your US account.⁷

Square also charges a 2.65% processing fee for any card transactions with major credit cards, including any international cards.⁸

PayPal for Business in Canada

PayPal is a popular payment platform for businesses in Canada, particularly if you regularly send and receive your money across borders.

There are a few great features of PayPal Business, including:

• sending and receiving your money in 25 currencies from over 200 markets
• accepting multiple payment types, including international credit and debit cards, as well as direct PayPal payments⁹
• creating unlimited invoices, with no monthly subscription fees¹⁰

However, PayPal often levies substantial transaction fees, particularly if you’re sending or receiving money abroad. You’ll experience a charge of 3.90% + a fixed fee for any Virtual Terminal US payments. For other international transactions via Virtual Terminal, you’ll be charged 4.10% + a fixed fee.¹¹

These fixed fees can depend on which currency you receive, with each currency experiencing a different fee. For example, payments received in US dollars (USD) experience a fixed fee of 0.30 USD.¹¹

PayPal’s Trustpilot rating is also the lowest of the 3 payment providers, rated 1.3 (as of 16 November 2023).¹² You might consider this when comparing Stripe vs PayPal vs Square.

Wise Business Account

Wise Business is your hassle-free international business account.

Rated 4.2 on Trustpilot (as of 16 November 2023), Wise Business offers many essential features for international businesses in Canada.

• Send money to 70+ countries – all at the mid-market exhange rate which you would usually see on Google
• Full transparency assured, with no monthly fees or hidden charges
• Make batch payments with Wise Business, including local bank details for up to 9 currencies at once

You can only send up to 3000 CAD per day by debit or credit card with Wise – but there’s no limit to how much you can receive in your account.

Take your business global with Wise!

The ultimate comparison: Which one works best for you?

Stripe, Square, PayPal, and Wise are all helpful payment processing platforms for international businesses in Canada, but which one works best for you?

If you regularly create invoices for your business, either Wise or PayPal could be the best platform for you. You can send an unlimited number of invoices using PayPal Business without subscription fees. Wise also lets you create easy invoices in your Wise Business account, including local bank details to receive payments from customers and clients.

You can take convenient in-person payments for your business with Square or Stripe. However, Square is best suited to companies that conduct their business in one country.

For batch payments, Wise and Stripe may be the best platforms. It’s easy to create a batch payment with Wise Business – and you can even track your transfers in real time.

To find out more about your global business spending, check out Wise.

Go beyond borders with Wise

Sources verified on 14 December 2023