MasterCard to hike assessment fees for small business by 20% on July 1: CFIB
TORONTO - The organization representing Canada's small- and medium-sized businesses says MasterCard Canada plans to follow Visa's lead and increase transaction fees for small merchants this summer.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business says the credit card company plans a 20 per cent increase in its assessment fee to 7.7 basis points on July 1.
The CFIB's president and CEO, Dan Kelly, says the increase is smaller than the one announced by Visa but his organization is still disappointed by the decision.
Kelly says it's particularly surprising that the fees will come before Canada's Competition Tribunal is expected to rule on its against the two card giants.
The small business group has been fighting industry rules that require businesses that accept Visa or MasterCard to treat all types of their cards equally, regardless of the cost of processing payments.
The CFIB says shopkeepers and others who accept credit and debit cards as payment need the right to be able to refuse high-cost cards or to add limited surcharges.
