Thank you.
Look, the agreement and even the code are not perfect measures, but the structure has largely worked. It has delivered benefits, both in the past and in the present day, to small businesses. As Michelle noted, our primary focus right now is ensuring that all acquirers, all processors, pass on the savings to small firms.
So far, Stripe is the only processor that has publicly shared that it will not pass on the savings to small firms, and while we appreciate its transparency, this is absolutely unacceptable.
In earlier rounds—I will say in the first and second round of fee reductions—other processors did try to hang on to some of the savings themselves and not pass them on to small businesses. However, we worked with both the Conservative and Liberal governments at the time to bring them back to the altar to get them to reduce their fees as was promised, and it generally worked. We need the public pressure right now for Stripe to get back to the table.
I will note that just over the weekend we had confirmed for us that Shopify is now going to pass on the savings; it didn't look like it was going to at the beginning. However, Shopify does use Stripe to process its transactions, and it will pass on the savings. I'm not sure at this moment whether it is Shopify doing that on its own or whether it has negotiated a special arrangement with Stripe, but it is good news that many small merchants using Shopify will now see the savings today.
If Stripe is allowed to get away with not passing on the savings, we believe that other processors will begin to raise their fees to make up the difference. Given that one of Stripe's board members is the chair of the governing party's task force on economic growth, this sends a very worrisome message to the payments community, and we at the CFIB take it extremely seriously.
I believe that everyone in the payments community would agree that my organization, the CFIB, has become the main enforcement agency for the code of conduct and the three rounds of Visa and Mastercard rate reductions. We're happy to take on this role, but we're counting on your committee and all parliamentarians to help ensure that these structures and the agreements are respected.
Thanks so much for your attention.