Square vs Stripe vs Interac e-Transfer: What Canadian Gym Members Actually Use
We analyzed payment data from 250+ Canadian gyms. Here's what your members want to pay with — and what's costing you the most in fees.
After processing over $2M in gym membership payments across Canada, we have clear data on what payment methods members actually prefer — and what gym owners are losing to unnecessary fees.
Interac e-Transfer: the Canadian favourite
42% of membership payments at Tollana gyms come via Interac e-Transfer. The reasons are cultural: Canadians trust it, it's in every bank app, and there are no fees for sending money. For gyms, the trade-off is that e-Transfer requires manual reconciliation unless your software handles it automatically (Tollana does).
Square: the most popular card processor
Square takes 38% of transactions. It's popular because the POS hardware is everywhere, the rates are straightforward (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction), and the dashboard is clean. Square integrates directly with Tollana for auto-reconciliation.
Stripe: for tech-forward gyms
About 15% of gyms use Stripe as their primary processor. It's slightly cheaper at volume (negotiable rates) and has the best API for custom integrations. Most Tollana gyms use Stripe as their secondary processor for online-only payments.
What about cash?
5% of payments are still cash. This is declining fast and mostly limited to drop-in visitors. We recommend phasing it out: cash handling has hidden costs in counting, errors, and theft risk.
The fee math
If you're processing $15,000/month in memberships, you save approximately $180/month by routing 40% through e-Transfer versus card. Over a year, that's $2,160 back in your pocket — enough to cover a year of Tollana.
The bottom line
Support all three. Members pay how they want to pay. Forcing one method increases churn. Tollana handles all three automatically so you don't have to think about it.