TORONTO — Visa Canada recently submitted a response to the Code of Conduct for the Canadian Credit and Debit Card Industry, issued by the country’s department of Finance.
The proposal was submitted to ensure merchants understand costs associated with card payments and have flexibility to encourage customers to use the lowest-cost payment option while also choosing which method of payment to accept.
“Visa believes that a competitive and transparent electronic payments industry should be fostered in Canada,” said Tim Wilson for the credit-card giant. “Our main concern, and one that we’ve highlighted in our submission to the government, is that the draft Code does not go far enough to protect consumer choice at point-of-sale and may discourage innovation.”
According to Visa, there are also practical implications of implementing parts of the Code that could inhibit the development of a competitive debit-card market in Canada. Visa Debit cards are said to offer Canadian retailers and consumers new debit features, including: enhanced security, chargeback protections, innovations like Visa payWave, expanded acceptance at international points-of-sale and at online merchants.
“Visa is committed to working with the government to accommodate their concerns while encouraging choice, competition and innovation within the Canadian payments industry. We believe this is an important dialogue and encourage the minister of finance to consider the impacts of any Code on merchants and consumers alike,” Wilson concluded.
