As the initiator of the Quebec coalition comprising 10 sector associations, the CQCD has also worked in cooperation with the Canadian coalition to combat credit-card and debit-card fee increases. Several recommendations were made to federal representatives and to Mr. Flaherty’s office concerning the transparency of the commercial practices of the credit-card and debit-card networks.

This code of conduct, which represents an important step for retailers, will also take their views into account:

• by ensuring that merchants are fully aware of the costs associated with accepting credit-card and debit-card payments;
• by providing merchants with increased pricing flexibility to encourage consumers to choose the lowest-cost payment option;
• by allowing merchants to freely choose which payment options they will accept.

We are pleased that Mr. Flaherty has listened to our concerns on this matter. For merchants, the code of conduct will re-establish much fairer competition with the issuers of credit and debit cards. This will restore the health of this market, which had become a duopoly where merchants were dependent on unfair contract clauses dictated by Visa and MasterCard.

While the announcement does not cover all of our recommendations, it is nonetheless beneficial for business in Quebec and in Canada. Public consultations on the code, to be held in the coming weeks, will allow merchants to continue to be heard regarding the points to be clarified and the pricing methods used by the major credit-card and debit-card networks. The CQCD will participate in the consultations along with the Coalition québécoise contre la hausse des frais de cartes de crédit et de débit.