REGINA – Cash or credit? If you chose the latter, you may find yourself paying more for your purchase.
Retailers currently pay between two and three per cent for each credit card transaction, but an upcoming decision by Canada’s Competition Tribunal could mean an increase of up to ten per cent wherein consumers will be footing the bill.
Shalene Pederson, owner of Uforia Muse, said, “I think it might hurt sales. I’m fine with us keeping it on our end where we pay it, because we just feel like we’d rather make it easier on our customers.”
That’s a feeling shared by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
Marilyn Braun-Pollon, Vice-President of CFIB, said, “Consumers and small businesses are on the same side of the fight. Credit card fees are like taxes, in that they inflate costs for businesses and prices for consumers. So by bringing transparency to the credit card industry we all win in the end.”
Canadian merchants currently pay over $5 billion in processing fees for electronic transactions each year. Within the last three years, fees have been hiked approximately 30 to 40 per cent.
The bureau has indicated that they have drafted their decision, which is expected to be announced within the next few weeks.
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