This is the first real financial question for a gym operator in Quebec: Moneris or Stripe? Short answer: it depends on the channel. Long answer: most gyms benefit from doing both. Here is how to decide based on your model.

Moneris: champion of Quebec in-person payments

Moneris is the most established payment processor in Canada, a historical partner of major banks.

Strengths: - Competitive Interac fees (often $0.07 to $0.10 per transaction) - Reliable physical terminals (POS) - 24/7 bilingual support - Excellent for in-branch transactions

Weaknesses: - Dated admin interface - Recurring subscription setup is less seamless than with Stripe - Less modern API

Stripe: champion of recurring payments and e-commerce

Stripe has transformed online payments. For a gym that sells subscriptions or operates multiple branches, it is often the best option on the SaaS side.

Strengths: - Native recurring subscriptions with automatic retries - Modern API, native integrations everywhere - Clear dashboard - Excellent management of expired cards

Weaknesses: - No Interac on physical POS in Quebec (limited to Interac Online) - Slightly higher fees than Moneris for in-person transactions - Support mainly via email

Use case: single-site gym, counter payments

Recommendation: Moneris.

For a local neighbourhood gym where the majority of payments are made at the counter with Interac debit, Moneris is unbeatable when it comes to fees.

Use case: gym with online recurring subscriptions

Recommendation: Stripe.

Selling subscriptions via your website, automated management of payment retries and card updates: Stripe is built for this.

Use case: multi-location with an in-person + online mix

Recommendation: Moneris + Stripe in parallel.

Moneris for in-branch and Interac sales, Stripe for subscriptions and online sales. Good software like SGS by TrainIQ allows you to use both without double data entry.

The pitfall to avoid

Choosing Stripe alone to save on setup costs often means paying 30% to 60% more in Interac fees on counter transactions. At 200 transactions/day, this quickly adds up to several thousand dollars/year.

The right answer for 70% of multi-channel Quebec gyms: use both. SGS by TrainIQ natively supports Moneris and Stripe, letting you route each transaction type to the optimal processor.