So was our organization, indeed.
I think it's important to note, first of all, that the retail market is a competitive market. A consumer can choose to shop in thousands of stores, eat in thousands of establishments. That's the number one comparison. With Visa and MasterCard, merchants don't have that opportunity.
Let me clarify. Visa and MasterCard set the interchange rate and also determine if other fees will be passed on. There's an assessment fee and now there's a new foreign card fee. So if I'm a merchant in Niagara Falls, Canada, all of a sudden, all of my transactions from my neighbours in the U.S. will be charged a higher fee, for whatever reason.
I think we need to clarify the interchange. The retailers do not negotiate. They don't even generally negotiate with the bank; they negotiate with the processor. The only thing they negotiate is the processing fee. Everything else is non-negotiable.