Industry committee  Are you talking about privacy concerns or...?

Finance committee  We have a lot of foreign companies operating here now, and as long as they're obeying the laws of the land, I don't see that being a really worrisome issue.

Finance committee  Are you talking about privacy concerns or...?

Industry committee  As we discussed earlier, there's no one perfect interchange rate. I think perhaps oversight of a process and regular monitoring of this industy is really what we're looking for. As we mentioned earlier, in Australia it happens to be the central bank. If that were the case in Canada, it would be the Bank of Canada.

Finance committee  As we discussed earlier, there's no one perfect interchange rate. I think perhaps oversight of a process and regular monitoring of this industy is really what we're looking for. As we mentioned earlier, in Australia it happens to be the central bank. If that were the case in Canada, it would be the Bank of Canada.

Industry committee  I think some of each. Every sector is going to respond to its own competitive conditions, which, naturally, are going to have some differences. If the economy was more robust right now, you'd probably see a few more costs passed on to consumers, just because the market would bear it.

Finance committee  I think some of each. Every sector is going to respond to its own competitive conditions, which, naturally, are going to have some differences. If the economy was more robust right now, you'd probably see a few more costs passed on to consumers, just because the market would bear it.

Industry committee  Yes. In addition to what has been said, we've done research in downturns over the years, and one of the things the individual business owner does—and all of our members are privately held companies—is cut their own compensation. In other words, they're maybe taking out a second mortgage on their family home or something along those lines, because naturally, their personal finances are very intertwined with their business finances.

Industry committee  First of all, the problem with people overspending and not being able to pay their credit card bills is supposedly taken into account by the interest rates. We know these interest rates are varied, but we know some of them are very high, at a time when we have really low prime rates.

Finance committee  Yes. In addition to what has been said, we've done research in downturns over the years, and one of the things the individual business owner does—and all of our members are privately held companies—is cut their own compensation. In other words, they're maybe taking out a second mortgage on their family home or something along those lines, because naturally, their personal finances are very intertwined with their business finances.

Finance committee  First of all, the problem with people overspending and not being able to pay their credit card bills is supposedly taken into account by the interest rates. We know these interest rates are varied, but we know some of them are very high, at a time when we have really low prime rates.

Industry committee  I'd just like to add that it depends on the industry. Different sectors are going to have different margins and are going to behave differently. Their competitive environment is probably going to be somewhat different, and in tough times a merchant doesn't want to lose any business.

Finance committee  I'd just like to add that it depends on the industry. Different sectors are going to have different margins and are going to behave differently. Their competitive environment is probably going to be somewhat different, and in tough times a merchant doesn't want to lose any business.

Industry committee  Something we haven't even touched on yet is that there is also the introduction of different kinds of transactions--qualified transactions, non-qualified transactions--and they attract different charges. A qualified transaction typically is one where the customer is standing in front of you, swipes the card, the card is physically present and so on.

Finance committee  Something we haven't even touched on yet is that there is also the introduction of different kinds of transactions--qualified transactions, non-qualified transactions--and they attract different charges. A qualified transaction typically is one where the customer is standing in front of you, swipes the card, the card is physically present and so on.