Authorize.Net in Canada: CAD Processing, Carts and Setup

Yes. Authorize.Net is a payment gateway: the software that sends a card payment from your website or virtual terminal to the bank that processes it. It doesn't move the money itself. That's the job of your merchant account, the account with an acquirer (the bank that accepts card payments for you and deposits the funds).

Authorize.Net's own support article says a merchant account from a provider "based in the United States or Canada is necessary." Businesses based anywhere else are sent to its sister company, Cybersource. So the real question for a Canadian business is which Canadian merchant account sits behind the gateway.

Not every processor Authorize.Net connects to handles Canadian dollars. As of September 27, 2026, Authorize.Net's support article and developer processor table list these North American processors as supporting both USD and CAD:

• Elavon
• Chase Paymentech (Tampa platform)
• First Data (Nashville; the developer table also lists Omaha and EFSNet)
• Global Payments

Others on the same table, including TSYS, Heartland and EVO, show USD only. START is a registered MSP/ISO of Elavon and the Canadian branch of U.S. Bank National Association, and processes in CAD or USD. We've worked with Authorize.Net for more than 20 years and set up over 60,000 Authorize.Net accounts. For what a Canadian account needs before you apply, see Canadian merchant account requirements.

This is the rule that shapes every Canadian setup. In Authorize.Net's words: "When an Authorize.net account is created they are set to one currency. If another currency is needed another account will need to be created for that currency."

So there's no switch that lets one gateway account charge some customers in CAD and others in USD. What you set up depends on where you sell:

Two accounts isn't just a gateway rule. Card fees depend on where the card was issued compared with where your merchant account is. A U.S. customer's card on a Canadian account is a cross-border sale, even if you charge in USD, and cross-border sales carry higher interchange (the base fee paid to the card's issuing bank) plus extra network fees. They're also declined more often. A U.S. account for U.S. customers keeps those sales domestic.

That's how START sets up businesses that sell in both countries: two merchant accounts, a Canadian account in CAD and a U.S. account in USD, each with its own Authorize.Net gateway, set up and managed together. For the fee math and when a second account pays off, read U.S. and Canada cross-border payments: one account or two.

Most Canadian online stores run on a hosted cart or WordPress. Here's what the three most common platforms publish about Authorize.Net, checked September 27, 2026:

Shopify's third-party fee. Shopify's Canadian pricing page, checked September 27, 2026, says "third-party transaction fees may apply" when you use a provider other than Shopify Payments. The listed rates by plan:

• Basic: 2%
• Grow: 1%
• Advanced: 0.6%
• Plus: 0.2%

That fee is Shopify's, charged on each sale on top of your processing fees. On a Basic plan it can outweigh the savings of a cheaper merchant account, so do the math at your sales volume. Shopify also says Authorize.Net's test servers aren't compatible with Shopify, so turn off test mode on your Authorize.Net account before you connect it.

Two currencies on one store. If you sell to both countries from one storefront, ask your cart how it would route CAD orders to one gateway account and USD orders to another. Not every cart or plan can do that. Some businesses run a separate storefront per country instead.

Whatever the cart, your website needs the basics card networks and underwriters look for: clear prices, a refund policy and contact details. See website requirements for accepting credit cards.

The gateway gives you the same main tools on either side of the border:

• Virtual terminal: key in card payments from a browser for phone and mail orders. See virtual terminal and MOTO processing.
• Automated Recurring Billing (ARB): charge a customer on a schedule for memberships, subscriptions or payment plans. See Automated Recurring Billing.
• Customer Information Manager (CIM): store customer payment details securely with Authorize.Net, so repeat customers don't re-enter their card. See Customer Information Manager.
• Fraud tools: filters that flag or block risky payments by amount, location, address match and more. See payment fraud prevention tools.

Check each feature against your processor. Authorize.Net's developer page notes that processors "may not support the same payment features in the same ways." Its processor table, checked September 27, 2026, shows the digital wallet column and the card-on-file column (how stored-card and recurring charges are flagged to the processor) blank for Elavon, while First Data Nashville lists Apple Pay and Google Pay. If wallets or stored cards matter to your checkout, confirm how they'll work on your account before you build around them.

Two more Canada-specific checks:

• Address checks. Address verification (AVS) compares the billing address a customer types with the one their card issuer has on file. Test how your filters treat Canadian postal codes so good orders aren't declined.
• Moving from another gateway. If you already store cards or run subscriptions elsewhere, ask whether those saved cards can move to Authorize.Net before you switch. See switching payment processors in Canada.

For the full U.S. feature list, see our Authorize.Net payment gateway page.

• Interac isn't a listed payment type. Authorize.Net's support article lists Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, JCB and Diners Club, plus Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and eCheck. Interac isn't on it. Interac debit is mostly an in-person payment, taken on a terminal through a Canadian acquirer, so it's a separate question from your online gateway. See card-present payments and ask what applies to your account.
• eCheck is U.S. only. Authorize.Net's eCheck works for customers with U.S. bank accounts over the U.S. ACH network, and its pricing page says eCheck is "only available for businesses based in the U.S."
• No mixed currencies on one account. As above, each gateway account is set to one currency.
• It doesn't cut cross-border card fees. The gateway passes the payment along. Whether a U.S. card is domestic or cross-border depends on the merchant account, not the gateway.

Authorize.Net publishes direct prices in U.S. dollars. As of September 27, 2026, its pricing page lists:

Those are Authorize.Net's own direct prices, not START's. When the gateway comes through a merchant services provider, as it does for most Canadian accounts, the gateway fee is set by that provider and varies. Ask for it in writing, along with whether it's billed in CAD or USD.

Remember the second gateway if you sell in both countries: two gateway accounts can mean two monthly gateway fees. On Shopify, add the third-party fee above.

The gateway is usually the smaller part of the bill. Interchange and your provider's markup on each sale matter more. See credit card processing fees in Canada for what the rest costs. Tell us your cart and where you sell, and we'll tell you what applies to your setup.

1. Decide where you sell. Canada only, the U.S. only or both. That sets how many merchant accounts and gateway accounts you need.
2. Get the merchant account approved. You'll share business, ownership and banking details, plus your website and what you sell. Our guide to getting approved lists the documents.
3. Open the gateway account in that account's currency. CAD for a Canadian account, USD for a U.S. account. One gateway account per merchant account.
4. Set up security and fraud settings. Add your users, turn on the fraud filters you want and check address verification with a Canadian address.
5. Connect your cart. Enter your API login ID and transaction key in Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce or your developer's code.
6. Test before you launch. Run a small live sale and refund it. Check that it settles in the right currency and deposits to the right bank account. On Shopify, test with a real card, since Authorize.Net's test mode doesn't work there.
7. Keep up with PCI. Taking cards means meeting the card industry's security standard. See PCI compliance basics.

Selling to U.S. customers too? Read how Canadian businesses take payments from U.S. customers before you set up the second account.