It's a great question, and thank you.
In fact, all merchants will tell you they always welcome more competition because it means more choice. This is where I think it's important to understand that there's no competition. If Visa and MasterCard enter the debit market, they will be in the business of trying to attract issuers to their brand. The only way they can do that is by providing a higher incentive.
It is a strange world when we believe that more competition in the debit market means higher fees. The only way, as a bank, that I will decide to issue your Visa card versus Interac, is if you give me 15 cents instead of 10 cents. It's not competition. It's competition between the networks, but it's not competition in real terms. It simply means it will cost more money versus less money, which has a huge impact on merchant business in Canada.