The two major credit-card companies, Visa and Mastercard, set interchange fees - these vary depending on the type of credit card and can be significantly higher for premium cards associated with reward points programs - but the issuing banks also get a portion of the fees paid by merchants. “This file seems to be very much at the bottom of the government’s priority list at the moment.” “The government has put this file on hold for many years despite repeated promises to small business owners that they’re going to do a further reduction in credit card processing fees,” said Dan Kelly, CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Instead, they want the federal government to live up to a promise it has made for years, starting with the 2019 election campaign, to reduce credit card transaction fees.

That’s not anything,” said Giancarlo Trimarchi, managing partner at Vince’s Market, an independent chain of four grocery stores near the GTA. “Telling retailers to charge customers? That’s not an answer. (Retailers say the cost of offering debit as a payment option is much lower.) That change goes into effect next week.īut some small business owners and advocates for retailers say this is not a workable solution to the problem they face when customers pay with plastic, specifically credit cards. “It would be another reason for them to go to the big chain rather than the independent.”Īs part of a settlement this year of a class-action lawsuit over what are known as interchange fees, Visa and Mastercard agreed to let Canadian merchants apply an extra fee at checkout for the use of credit cards under either of their brands. “It’s not something that you can pass on to your customers. That’s an option McMullen said she cannot take. It’s a big cost in the grocery business, which already operates on razor-thin profit margins, but as of next Thursday, the chain of four upscale Toronto grocery stores could choose to pass the “swipe” fees along to customers as a surcharge. Christy McMullen, vice-president of Summerhill Market, estimates her family-run business spends about $1 million per year on fees to process credit card transactions.

Credit card terminal rates