Perhaps the people from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada can tell us where to find the information we would need to meaningfully compare the costs associated with these layers of fees in different countries. We know that interchange fees are about 1.5% in Canada, whereas in Australia, they are 0.5% under regulations the government put in place. An agreement has just been reached here, if I understand correctly.
I'm coming back to my colleague Ms. Rempel Garner's question. In the context of the agreement in question, we're talking about a 27% decrease in interchange fees. However, I have one concern. As we know, the final cost of making a credit card purchase includes several other components or layers of fees. I'm afraid that someone at another stage might increase their fees. Earlier, my colleague talked about Stripe. That's one example. It's like the plumber for this entire technology.
Ms. Syal, could these people increase their fees and keep the merchant from getting the 27% reduction at the end of the day?