I have a couple of businesses in St. John's, in Ms. Coady's riding. This past summer I opened a new business, a microbrewery, restaurant, and pub. When I did my business plan, of course, I based it on the credit card rate being what I had negotiated with the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, and it was 1.57% at the time. The base rate has since gone to 1.64% for Visa and 1.71% for MasterCard. Since I opened, 71% of my sales--I've given Siobhan a copy and I know that James' office has a copy of my sales--have been from Visa and MasterCard. I can't afford not to accept these cards, as I'd like to. I don't accept American Express because the rate is so high, but of course I can't stop accepting other credits cards or I wouldn't have any customers. My blended rate ended up being 2.21%, which is not what we negotiated and certainly not what I budgeted for.
On May 12th, 2009. See this statement in context.