Visa and Walmart Canada are engaged in a public battle over credit card fees after the retailer announced that due to high fees it will stop accepting Visa cards starting July 18 at its stores in Thunder Bay, Ont.
The Toronto Star report says that Visa claims Walmart is asking for a rate lower than the one paid by charities and schools.
In April 2016, credit card companies in Canada agreed to bring the average rate charged merchants down to 1.5 per cent. In the Star report, Gary Sands, spokesperson for the Small Business Matters Coalition, said retailers are waiting on the results of a third-party audit to report on whether the credit card companies are in fact meeting this target.
Canadian retailers pay about $5-billion a year in credit card fees, according to the Council.
Read the full report here.
See the June 2016 VISA ads in newspapers
Read Globe & Mail article “Walmart ‘taking a stand’ in battle with Visa”
Read Globe & Mail article “Walmart may get a better deal from Visa, but it won’t help small retailers”
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