FCAC: More Transparency In Merchant-Acquirer Agreements To Protect Merchants

On July 29, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (the FCAC) published final versions of three guidance documents to assist with the implementation of new disclosure requirements set out in the April 2015 update to the Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry in Canada (the Code). The guidance documents (CG-10, CG-15 and CG-16) require greater transparency and disclosure detail in merchant-acquirer agreements in the interest of merchant protection.

The guidance documents come into effect on November 13, 2016.

What You Need To Know

• All merchant acquirer agreements entered into or renewed on or after November 13, 2016 must include a cover page containing an information summary box providing key contract terms, a fee disclosure box and the disclosure of all other fees, in forms set out in the guidance. Agreements in place before that date that renew automatically for terms of less than six months with no other changes are exempt.