Visa and MasterCard reduced the fees they collect from businesses to an average annual rate of 1.4 per cent from 1.5 per cent under an agreement with Ottawa that took effect last year. But the fees remain higher than in many Western countries, particularly for online transactions, trade organizations say.
She said “there's no doubt” digital rates should come down, and that fees should be clearer and more transparent for merchants. “Mastercard did a deeper drop for those in-store transactions, but concurrently hiked the amounts for their online,” he said, referring to recent fee adjustments. “And obviously that has implications given the odd outcomes that COVID has created.”
The CFIB and the retail council are calling on the federal government to negotiate lower fees from credit-card firms. Mastercard says it is committed to its voluntary agreement with Ottawa that established the 1.4 per cent average rate. The average rate reduction to 1.4 per cent from 1.5 per cent would amount to just $100 worth of savings for businesses for every $100,000 in credit-card sales, according to the retail council.
What small businesses? There’s some left?