Surcharge: Investigation on MasterCard and Visa
- Visa and MasterCard are now targeted by Canadian authorities.
- The Canadian Competition Bureau required from the Court that the rules imposed by acquirers such as MasterCard and Visa be abolished. According to them, these rules increase prices for the consumers.
- This issue was raised because of the commissions applied by the banks to Canadian merchant, from 1.5 to 3% of the total amount paid by card. Also, they are not allowed to promote other less expensive means of payment (debit cards or cash) via a surcharge in case the credit card is used. The Honour All Card Rule, imposing acceptance of all kinds of cards from the same network, no matter the price, is also targeted.
- According to Federal authorities, Canadian customers pay about 5 billion Canadian dollars hidden fees per year to use their credit cards. These charges remain lower than in the United States. However, the Canadian domestic debit card, Interac, only makes merchants pay 0.12 Canadian dollar per transaction.
- It should be noted that Canadian consumers are opposed to this legal procedure. The president of the Consumers Association of Canada accuses the Bureau of giving in to powerful merchant lobbying and sides with MasterCard and Visa. They claim their rules ensure the protection of consumer's free choice and guarantee that the sales commitment made during the card subscription is respected. Consumers and card schemes underline that cardholders will be prejudiced by large retailers if surcharge is authorised.
- These viewpoints meet similar associations’ opinion developed in France during PSD transposition. The European text plans merchant's freedom to discriminate any payment instrument, making it cost less or more for his customer, but the member States are authorised not to enforce this measure. France did not agree to enforce this measure. However, it retained the possibility to change it later by Decree of the French Finance Minister.