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20/01/2010 -
With the comment period for the proposed code of conduct for the debit and credit card industry now over as of Monday, two of the major players in the payment processing debate - MasterCard and Visa - have announced their comments. MasterCard announced that it "supports the objectives of the code" and that its only comments were regarding clarification, details of operational implementation, and commercial viability.
Furthermore, MasterCard said that it believes the code will allow "vigorous debit competition" to "thrive" in Canada.
"The draft code balances the interests of various players in the payments system including addressing the concerns of small merchants. MasterCard recommends the maintenance of that equilibrium as the code is finalized," the company said.
Visa also announced its response to the payment processing code of conduct, which was a bit more substantive and less agreeable - the company said that the draft code "does not go far enough to protect consumer choice at point of sale and may discourage innovation," referring to the debate over priority routing of debit card networks.
The code of conduct was released in late November by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in an attempt to safeguard the rights of consumers and merchants, largely in light of the imminent entry of Visa and MasterCard into the Canadian payment processing market.
