“There’s been virtually no progress made,” said Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, which has been lobbying the government to prioritize the issue of credit-card fees in this week’s mini-budget. “I’m hoping this will be featured, and really hoping it’s not just another vague commitment to do something. … I’ve got a lot of businesses that say they spend more on credit-card processing fees than they take out of the business themselves, as the owner.
But many small- and medium-sized business owners say surcharging is not a real solution to the problem, because it has the potential to anger customers who are already struggling with inflation, and to potentially drive them to larger competitors. Small retailers, for example, say that big-name rivals are better able to absorb the cost of the swipe fees without a surcharge, because they have the clout to negotiate for lower fees with card issuers.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers launched a co-ordinated letter-writing campaign in August for members to ask their MPs for more progress on the issue. A number of businesses and groups from a wide array of industries have registered on this topic as well, including Walmart Canada Inc., the Canadian Energy Marketers Association and the Canadian Chiropractic Association.
Let me swipe my AMEX / Visa Infinite / World Elite... You should all be asking for tax reduction not this bs.
Poll: VisaDebit?