We notice you are visiting from a U.S. Internet provider. 
21/05/2010 -
With U.S Senators closing in on a bill in Congress that will most likely lower interchange fees charged by card companies, one Canadian expert feels that her country does not need to resort to such drastic measures, the Toronto Sun reports.Before the bill, Visa had recently raised its interchange rate for debit cards to 0.95 percent, as well as charging 20 cents per transaction. This, along with other rising swipe fees for U.S. merchants, began to cripple small businesses as more customer begin to pay with plastic rather than paper.
Catherine Swift, president and chief executive of the Canadian Business Federation, feels that the U.S. is right in its actions against card companies, but Canada will avoid such movements.
"In the U.S., debit card fees are on average about 10 times higher than they are in Canada," Swift said, the Toronto Sun relays. "And there's no justification for it - other than money on the bottom line of Visa and Mastercard."
The Canadian card industry has avoided conflict thus far. Even before a recent Code of Conduct was installed by finance minister Jim Flaherty, which required explanations of increased rates as well as itemization, the country had few issues with card companies.
Visa and MasterCard have actually withdrawn all debit in Canada, according to Swift.
So while the country south of the border continues its fight against card corporations, Canada remains in a good position with its cards and payment processing industry.
