NMI payment gateway in Canada: what you have, and what to check before you change it.

This page covers the NMI payment gateway, run by Network Merchants, LLC of Schaumburg, Illinois and backed by Insight Partners, Francisco Partners and Great Hill Partners. NMI is the gateway. It carries a card sale from your website or software to the company that processes your card payments. What you pay depends on the whole setup behind it. We check that setup with you first, as we do for [all the gateways we cover](/payment-processing/gateways).

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The short answer

  • NMI is a gateway, not a processor. Most of what you pay comes from the processing behind it.
  • NMI is sold through partners. We can set up an NMI gateway account with a Canadian merchant account behind it, confirmed in writing first.
  • CAD depends on the processor. NMI says merchants can take USD, CAD and other currencies based on the processor on the account.
  • No Interac. NMI's pages and developer docs do not mention Interac.
  • Nothing changes until it is checked. Changing processor or keeping saved cards and recurring billing depends on your account, and we confirm it in writing first.

Your gateway and your processor do different jobs

A payment gateway passes the card details from your checkout to a processor and brings the answer back. The payment processor approves the sale and settles the money into your merchant account, which pays out to your bank.

  1. Your website, store or billing software
  2. NMI, the gateway
  3. The company that processes your card payments
  4. Your merchant account
  5. Your Canadian bank account

An NMI gateway account needs a merchant account behind it, added to the gateway as a processor record. The two can come from one provider or from two. Your statements usually show which. If not, send us what you have and we will work it out with you.

Where to start

Your situationWhat we check first
Your software asks for NMIWhich NMI connection it uses, and which keys it needs
You use NMI and want to see what it costsWho processes your payments, and which lines are gateway, processing and software
You want USD as well as CADWhich processor records your account holds, and the currency on each
You take recurring paymentsWhere the cards are stored, and which system runs the schedule
You are moving website platformWhether the new platform has a working NMI connector
Someone asked you for a VAR sheetWho should issue it, and what it must contain

NMI news that may affect your setup

NMI announced on 19 May 2026 that it had bought Dwolla, a bank-to-bank payments company. NMI's documentation now tells new integrations to start with its Payment Component and REST API. Collect.js and the Classic API stay for existing integrations, with no published shut-off date.

Ask your developer or plugin vendor which connection you run. If you are not sure, we can check your setup with you.

Software that connects to NMI

HighLevel

HighLevel documents a native NMI connection using a Gateway ID, a Security Key and a Public Key, with 3-D Secure once Payer Authentication 2.0 is active on the NMI account. Our HighLevel and Authorize.Net page shows what a connector page covers.

Shopify

NMI built its own Shopify integration, launched 11 June 2024, with 3-D Secure included. NMI publishes no country list for it, so we confirm it for a Canadian store first.

WooCommerce

NMI points to third-party plugins rather than one of its own. Two on WordPress.org, PCI Gateway for NMI and WooCommerce by Pledged Plugins and XL NMI Gateway for WooCommerce by XLPlugins, list saved cards through Customer Vault and WooCommerce Subscriptions support.

QuickBooks and Xero

NMI's Bill Connect adds card and bank payments, including recurring ones, inside QuickBooks and Xero.

How an NMI account is set up

A VAR sheet holds the processor details that let the gateway reach your merchant account, such as a merchant number and terminal ID. Your processor issues it, and those fields build the processor record on NMI. Read our VAR sheet guide; the steps are the same for NMI. NMI's docs say each extension, such as saved cards or 3-D Secure, stays pending until the merchant agrees to its fees and terms.

What to check on an NMI account

FeatureWhat NMI documents
Saved cardsCustomer Vault stores card details on NMI's servers and returns a vault ID. Customer Token Vault adds network tokens. Automatic Card Updater refreshes stored cards.
RecurringRecurring Billing on the gateway, with subscriptions and plans in the REST API.
3-D SecurePayer Authentication 2.0, for Visa and Mastercard. See our 3-D Secure glossary entry.
Level 2 and 3 dataLevel III Advantage fills in the extra fields for business and government buyers.
Apple Pay and Google PayApple Pay for eligible processors, turned on in the Merchant Portal. Google Pay for all merchants.
Virtual terminal and pay by linkVirtual Terminal, Electronic Invoicing, Text-to-Pay and QR codes. See our virtual terminal and pay by link pages.
Bank-account paymentsCollect.js accepts US and Canadian bank accounts, with transit and institution numbers, sent in CAD.
Fraud toolsFraud Defense Suite: Kount, iSpy Fraud and Automatic Card Testing Detection.
Not documentedInterac in any form. Surcharging, which NMI's docs say is US-only. A list of Canadian processors.

3-D Secure 2 on NMI

NMI runs 3-D Secure 2 as an extension called Payer Authentication 2.0, for Visa and Mastercard. It works with a raw card, a Collect.js token or a Customer Vault ID, and NMI's docs say each extension stays pending until the merchant agrees to its fees and terms. HighLevel's native NMI connection documents 3-D Secure once the extension is active; Chargebee's NMI connection supports only non-3DS flows. We check whether the extension is live on your account and which of your software connections can use it. Why it matters: card-testing bots run stolen card numbers through online checkouts by the thousand, and Visa's guidance says every attempt, approved or declined, can carry authorization and gateway fees, with disputes on the ones that go through. Visa's merchant guide lists 3-D Secure authentication among the controls, next to CAPTCHA, velocity limits and device checks. Turn it on before the first attack; we check that it is live and that your checkout sends it. See 3-D Secure in Canada, or the sixty-second version.

Stopping card testing on NMI

NMI's fraud page names a Fraud Defense Suite with three parts: Kount Advanced Fraud Prevention, with AI risk scores, turned on in the merchant portal; iSpy Fraud Detection, rules with spend limits and bans; and Automatic Card Testing Detection, which NMI documents as its own feature. Each is an extension with its own terms. We check which of the three are live on your account and whether your plugin passes the customer IP that the rules need. Visa's merchant guide lists these controls together with 3-D Secure, and none of them is on by default on a new account. We go through the list with you and turn on what your checkout can use.

CAD, USD and Interac

NMI says currency depends on the processor on the account, and each processor record carries its own currency list. One account can hold more than one record, so CAD and USD can sit on one login when the processor behind each supports it. We confirm in writing which currencies your account can settle.

NMI does not document Interac. If Interac debit is a large share of your sales, tell us at the start. Canadian bank-account payments exist in NMI's docs where the processor supports them, but NMI never calls them pre-authorized debit, so confirm the product with us first.

Fees and statements

NMI publishes no price list. Its partner page says partners set their own fee schedules. A full quote should show these as separate lines:

  • a gateway account fee, usually monthly;
  • a per-transaction gateway fee;
  • a fee for each extension, such as Customer Vault, Level III Advantage, Payer Authentication 2.0 or Kount;
  • processing fees from your processor, the largest part;
  • any software or plugin fee.

See our guides to card processing fees in Canada and interchange rates in Canada for the processing lines.

Where CleverPays fits

NMI owns and runs the gateway. The company that processes your card payments approves and settles them. Your software company maintains its own connector. CleverPays does not make NMI or your software.

We check your setup with you: which gateway account, which processor record, which software, CAD or USD, saved cards and recurring billing. We can set up an NMI gateway account with a Canadian merchant account behind it, confirmed in writing first. We can review your statement, connect and test what we set up, and stay your contact in English and French.

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Sources

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Common questions

Yes. NMI is the gateway, and a merchant account from a processor sits behind it. NMI's own full-service product is listed for the US, UK and EU, not Canada.

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Tell us what you run today. We check the setup with you and tell you plainly what can change.

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