by MorinvilleNews.com Staff
As the reduction in credit card fees for smaller merchants approaches, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has reached out to payment processors, urging them to confirm their readiness to pass on these savings to small businesses by the October 19, 2024, deadline. Of the 11 acquirers contacted, five have acknowledged the letter, with four currently preparing responses. CFIB says it plans to publish these responses and share details with its membership.
“In the two previous rounds of interchange reductions, we’ve heard from some members that fee reductions weren’t always properly passed on to merchants. By sending this letter, we want to ensure that all major players are willing and ready to implement the cost savings, so smaller merchants can benefit from them as soon as reductions come into force,” said CFIB’s Executive Vice-President of Advocacy Corinne Pohlmann in a media release on Thursday.
Starting October 19, 2024, small businesses with annual Visa sales up to $300,000 and Mastercard sales up to $175,000 will benefit from a 0.95% average interchange rate for in-store transactions and a 0.1% reduction in e-commerce fees, leading to savings of up to 27% for most small businesses.
“These are important changes that we’ve long been fighting for, and we want our members to be fully informed. It’s imperative that acquirers be transparent and prepared to implement these changes ahead of time, given that many of our members are their clients,” Pohlmann said.
The new agreement between the feds, Visa and Mastercard to lower credit card processing fees for smaller merchants was announced in the spring of 2023, a move welcomed by CFIB at the time. For more info on their credit card advocacy work, visit cfib.ca/credit-cards.
