A federal competition tribunal hearing over Visa and MasterCard’s merchant fees begins in Ottawa today. The Competition Bureau has focused on two rules in particular. One is that merchants that accept either Visa or MasterCard must accept all of the cards. The other rule is that merchants are prevented from encouraging consumers to use lower-cost alternatives like debit cards or cash; furthermore, merchants are blocked from asking a surcharge from higher-fee cards. Commissioner Melanie Aitken points out that Canadians pay $5 billion a year in hidden card fees, one of the highest amounts worldwide.
Full content: CBC
Related content: Anticompetitive Regulation in the Payment Card Industry (Ronald Mann, Columbia Law School)
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