Government To Conduct Further Assessment On Interchange Fees

The Minister of Finance issued a statement on September 14th on the status of each of Visa and MasterCard's commitments to reduce the fees merchants are charged to accept credit cards (Interchange Fees). The statement acknowledges the independent audit findings of both Visa and MasterCard indicating that they have each met their commitments to reduce Interchange Fees. (Visa and MasterCard each agreed to reduce Interchange Fees in the Fall of 2014, as described in more detail here.)

The statement goes on to provide that the Government will conduct a further assessment of the fees charged by the credit card networks and review the effect of the fee reductions, "in order to ensure that there is, in fact, adequate competition and transparency for Canadian businesses and consumers". Stay tuned as there may be more to come on this topic once the Government has conducted its assessment.