Card processing in Canada
Canada has rules that give you more power over your card processor than most owners realise. Here is what they are, in plain words.
The Code of Conduct is the big one
Canada has a Code of Conduct for the Payment Card Industry. It is a set of rules that payment processors and card networks agreed to follow, overseen by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. It exists specifically to protect businesses like yours.
It is not a law in the usual sense, but every major processor in Canada has signed up to it, and the FCAC handles complaints when somebody breaks it.
What it gives you
The provisions below are the ones merchants ask about most. The exact wording and time limits need checking against the current version of the Code before this page states them as fact: {{VERIFY: exact Code of Conduct provisions, notice periods and cancellation windows, against the current FCAC version}}
- Clear statements. Your processor has to give you information about what you are being charged, in a form you can actually read.
- Notice before fees change. They cannot quietly raise your rates. You are entitled to advance notice.
- The right to leave when they do. If your fees go up or your terms change, you get a window to cancel without paying a penalty. This is the provision most owners have never heard of, and it is the most useful one.
- Control over debit and credit. Accepting credit does not force you to accept that network's debit, and the other way round.
- A complaints route. If a processor will not play fair, the FCAC handles Code complaints.
Interac: the Canadian thing that saves money
Interac is Canada's own debit network. It is not Visa or Mastercard, and it is priced differently: usually a flat amount per sale rather than a percentage of the sale.
That matters most when the sale is large. On a big-ticket payment, a flat per-sale fee is usually far cheaper than a percentage. Plenty of Canadian businesses pay percentage rates on payments that could have gone through debit.
Look up Interac fee in the statement decoder to see how it appears on your bill.
Surcharging in Canada
Canadian merchants have been able to add a surcharge to credit card payments since a court settlement with Visa and Mastercard, subject to rules about limits, notice and registration. Quebec is treated differently because of its consumer protection law.
The specifics matter and they change, so before you switch surcharging on: {{VERIFY: Canadian surcharging rules: caps, notice requirements, network registration, and the Quebec position under the Consumer Protection Act}}
What is the same as everywhere else
Interchange, assessments, PCI rules and chargebacks all work broadly the same way in Canada as in the United States. The fees section covers those, and notes country differences where they exist.