Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, Mr. O'Connell. I commend you on your presentation and for agreeing to be in the hot seat for two hours. I wish to talk to you about problems concerning credit cards. Retailers greatly deplore the fact that credit card issuers are billing higher interchange fees for the use of premium or rewards cards, specifically. That is one of the issues we are currently studying.
You are seeking to enter into greater competition with credit card companies, which are also seeking to issue debit cards; however, have you considered that in order to attract new clients, those very same companies could begin offering debit cards in return for rewards or bonuses, similar to their credit cards? To be truly competitive, will you not be forced to go the same route? I would like to know how you would prepare for such a possibility.