Thank you. We appreciate the opportunity to appear before the committee today.
My name is Cathy Honor, and I head up RBC's global cards and payments business, overseeing card products in more than 20 countries around the world.
As in issuer, RBC provides debit, credit, Visa, MasterCard, and Amex products all around the world. We are also our own acquirer in many countries, but in Canada and the U.S., our acquiring business was transferred to a separately run joint venture company, Moneris, which has appeared at these hearings on its own behalf. Up until earlier this year, I also sat on the Interac board.
RBC is the second-largest credit card issuer in Canada and the ninth-largest in North America. Based on our experience globally, we believe the credit card market in Canada is functioning well for consumers and retailers who are benefiting from choice, competition, and the convenience of a thriving payment system.
Merchants have enjoyed virtually no changes to interchange rates for over a decade, despite rising fraud and payment costs. I acknowledge, however, that there have been a lot of changes over the last year to align Canada with other parts of the world. Despite these changes, Canada remains and continues to enjoy significantly lower interchange rates than similar industrialized nations.
Canadians are happy with their credit cards, both consumers and businesses who heavily use credit cards for both payments and cash management. In February 2008, Forrester Research issued a Canadian customer experience report, with overall customer experience ratings across multiple industries. Canadian credit card issuers came out amongst the highest ratings.
In closing, we are privileged to participate in one of the world's largest and most successful electronic payments markets. At the same time, we recognize that there are always areas for improvement, and we will continue to work with our customers, the industry, and the government to ensure that Canada's payment system remains one of the best in the world.
Thank you.