Competition Bureau Targets Visa, MasterCard

Visa’s high merchant fees | BCBusiness
Visa and MasterCard face a Competition Bureau tribunal this week charging the companies with setting merchant fees far too high.

Tribunal examines credit card companies’s high fees for merchants which are hurting Canada’s small businesses and consumers.

Visa and MasterCard were taken to task today at a competition tribunal for charging exorbitant fees just for the privilege of swiping a credit card.
 
Ottawa’s Competition Bureau opened a case against the companies for charging high transaction fees for merchants, sometimes as high as three per cent, which add up quickly both for small businesses and consumers.
 
The fees for paying with a credit card are up to 50 times greater than those for a debit card payment – costs that merchants are forced to pass on to their customers. The high transaction rate shifted an estimated $5 billion in hidden costs to Canadian consumers last year.
 
The tribunal also took issue with the requirement that if a merchant accepts one Visa or MasterCard, it must accept all of them, including premium cards with higher transaction fees for merchants. The lack of choice creates an uncompetitive environment that either keeps some small businesses out of the game or locked in the stranglehold of high fees.
 
The tribunal, much like a trial, is expected to continue into June.