Industry supports cap on credit, debit card fees

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Industry supports cap on credit, debit card fees
The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA) strongly supports Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach’s recommendation to the prime minister to limit credit and debit processing fees. The recommendation was part of the premier’s suggested measures for inclusion in the 2009 federal budget.

CRFA has also called on the government to provide oversight of the fees that credit card companies are charging merchants. Every time a restaurant operator accepts payment via credit card, the banks and credit card companies charge the restaurant a processing fee. These fees keep climbing, leading to higher costs for restaurant operators and higher menu prices for consumers.

“At a time when many Canadian restaurants are struggling to keep their doors open, credit card companies have repeatedly increased fees or introduced new fees, and have automatically moved some cardholders to premium cards that carry higher fees for merchants,” says Justin Taylor, CRFA's vice president of labour and taxation. “This has resulted in a significant and unpredictable increase in costs for restaurant owners, at a time when every dollar counts.”

While other countries have taken measures to regulate these fees, Canada has yet to do so and Canadian merchants pay among the highest interchange fees in the world. Government intervention would provide much-needed benefit to all sectors of the economy that accept payment by credit card.

CRFA has joined a coalition of more than 120,000 businesses from coast to coast to put a stop to skyrocketing fees. To learn more about how credit card fees are affecting businesses in your community, visit http://stopstickingittous.com .