Visa and Mastercard Small Merchant Interchange Program

As part of a renewed commitment to the Government of Canada to lower cost of processing credit transactions, Visa^® and Mastercard^® have introduced lower small merchant interchange rate programs for domestic consumer credit transactions (the “Program”).

Merchants will be qualified directly by Visa and Mastercard based on annual processing volume thresholds. A merchant that processes both Visa and Mastercard may qualify for reduced rates on one or both card brands. Merchants who meet the criteria will qualify as small merchants and will be eligible to receive the rate(s).

Moneris is passing through the reduced rates to eligible merchants on simplified pricing ("interchange plus" or "cost plus").

Qualifying criteria:

• Merchants that process less than CAD $175,000 in Mastercard credit volume annually, qualify for the Program
• Merchants that process less than CAD $300,000 in Visa credit, debit and prepaid volume annually, qualify for the Program
• Merchants that surcharge do not qualify for the Visa small merchant interchange program.
• Merchants who have negotiated for an interchange rate with Visa and/or Mastercard, or merchants who qualify for a different interchange program that offers lower rates than the small merchant interchange program, do not qualify for the Program.
• Merchants will be subject to an annual qualification assessment, conducted by Visa and/or Mastercard, to determine merchant eligibility for the Program. Visa, Mastercard, and Moneris will conduct ongoing monitoring and can remove merchants from the Program at any time if they no longer qualify. 
• The 12-month qualification period that Visa and Mastercard will use to assess merchants’ eligibility in the Program will be from October 1 (of the prior year) to September 30, each year.

Visa Small Business Interchange rates:

Mastercard Small Business Interchange rates:

The above Program rates are set out as a pre-determined fee schedule, as referenced in the Code of Conduct. Merchants may be removed from the Program, with or without notice, at any time if they fail to meet the qualification criteria and will be subject to standard interchange rates.

For more information on Visa and Mastercard interchange rates, please visit the links below:

Visa

https://www.visa.ca/en_CA/support/small-business/interchange.html

Mastercard

https://www.mastercard.ca/en-ca/business/overview/interchange/merchant-interchange-rates.html