How A Teen Coder Built A Payments Empire: 'Local Businesses Took A Chance On Me, Now We Processed $4 Billion In 2023'

At 15, Nic Beique wasn't your typical teenager. While most kids were hanging out at the mall, Beique walked into local businesses pitching website design services. 

"I'd walk into places like my barber shop or the gym and ask if they needed a website," Beique said in an interview with Entrepreneur. "Shockingly, they said yes. They took a chance on me and that trust changed my life."

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Those early projects gave Beique a front-row seat to small businesses’ challenges. "These were people pouring their hearts into their businesses, working harder than anyone else. It made me want to work just as hard for them," he said. 

That loyalty would later inspire the creation of Helcim, a company now processing billions of dollars in transactions for small businesses across North America.

The idea for Helcim wasn't born overnight. In the early 2000s, as Beique helped clients expand into e-commerce, he encountered the frustrating world of payment processing. "PayPal was the big name back then, but merchants were constantly complaining about frozen funds and terrible customer service," Beique said. 

"Banks weren't much better. They demanded massive deposits and buried fees in contracts so confusing they could make a lawyer sweat."

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These pain points weren't unique to Beique's clients. According to a study by PYMNTS and Plastiq, nearly half of small business owners in 2023 reported dissatisfaction with payment processors, citing a lack of transparency regarding payment timelines as their biggest frustration.

It's no surprise that the global digital payments market, projected to hit $16.62 trillion in 2028 according to Statista, is rife with opportunities for companies that prioritize fairness and simplicity.

Helcim was Beique's answer to these problems. "Everyone says they love small businesses, but few are willing to treat them with respect," he explained. "I wanted to change that by creating a payment company that was affordable, transparent and genuinely helpful."

The journey wasn't easy. Beique started as a reseller for a bank's merchant services, securing the partnership only after a year of relentless follow-ups. "Banks weren't eager to let a newcomer in, but persistence paid off," he said. That experience taught him the ropes of the payments industry while allowing him to build trust with small business owners. "They remembered me from my website days and they were willing to give me another shot."

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In 2020, Helcim transitioned from a reseller to its payment processor, marking a turning point for the company. By 2023, it was processing nearly $4 billion in payments annually and attracting major investor interest, including a CAD 27 million Series B round in early 2024. "We're on track to double that volume this year," Beique noted.

For Beique, Helcim’s impact on its clients is the real reward. "Payments are the heartbeat of commerce," he said. "We get to work with bakers, charities, breweries – you name it. Seeing their businesses grow because of what we provide – it's priceless."

Beique's advice for aspiring entrepreneurs? "There's no shortcut. You'll get a lot of nos before you get that one yes. But if you stick with it, one day you'll look back and realize just how far you've come."

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