Surcharge Proposed for Canadian Credit Card Payments
Dana Flavelle, a Business Reporter for The Star reports that a C.D.Howe report is recommending that Interac should be allowed to go for profit in order to better compete with Visa and MasterCard and that retailers should be allowed to surcharge credit/debit transactions.
Paying cash may benefit consumers under surcharge plan
C. D. Howe report suggests fee be charged depending on type of payment
Retailers should be allowed to surcharge consumers based on the type of payment used, a study finds, saying it would be fairer to customers who pay with cash.
The C. D. Howe Institute also recommends that Canada's existing debit provider, Interac, be allowed to go for profit so it can compete more effectively with Visa and MasterCard as those two multinational giants enter Canada's debit market.
The study by the Toronto-based think-tank, released Thursday, comes as federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty continues to review stakeholders' comments on a proposed voluntary code of conduct for the debit and credit card industry.
The code would allow retailers to discount but not surcharge consumers depending on whether they presented cash or a card.
But some retailers and small business groups say they need the threat of surcharging card users to negotiate more reasonable fees with credit card processors.
Credit card companies and consumer groups oppose surcharging.
