Industry Committee on Nov. 25th, 2024

[Shereen Benzvy Miller]

Then we can investigate and we can take supervisory actions.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

You've admitted that you can't compel them to do anything: “Hey, why didn't you fix this thing you were supposed to fix?” “We chose not to.”

[Shereen Benzvy Miller]

We can issue notices of non-compliance. I mean, it's an engagement. It's an engagement with the industry as an oversight—

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

So we pay you for engagement.

[Shereen Benzvy Miller]

No, we are an oversight body.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

You're paid for engagement, but you're not—

[Shereen Benzvy Miller]

We are an oversight body that's overseeing codes of conduct to ensure that market behaviour is appropriate.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

But if you're an oversight body, why don't you report any of this stuff in your annual report?

[Shereen Benzvy Miller]

We report it annually—

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

There are no details here of where the banks haven't complied, or have complied, by institution.

[Jason Bouzanis]

Perhaps Mr. Lofranco could add some information on what we do report on.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

I have limited time. I don't see it in your annual report. If you're going to take two minutes to answer that, I can't afford that. I'll move on to my next question.

[Frank Lofranco]

I'll take less than two minutes.

When we find that institutions are not abiding by the expectations around complaint handling, we can compel them to undertake a remediation activity to correct for that. When there is harm in relation to financial consumers, we can require them to make those consumers whole. In monitoring the complaint-handling processes within banks, we do have the authority to enforce the obligations.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

It says here that your third goal is this: “Be the authoritative source of Canadian financial consumer protection information”. You list a bunch of public policy areas where you've done that. Have you released those papers? Have you ever done anything on interchange fees or Interac's monopoly? If you're the authoritative source of financial consumer protection, and the banks own the only e-transfer and debit system in Canada and force consumers to use that without any choice, have you ever done any work in that area? That's the purpose of this study.

[Shereen Benzvy Miller]

Yes, and we do ensure that the fees banks are charging their customers related to those services are fully transparent and that consumers are aware of what the charges are.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

But how are you a consumer protection agency if you don't—

[Shereen Benzvy Miller]

Because—

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Just let me finish my question first.

How are you a consumer protection agency? If you sign up for a transaction banking account in Canada, you have no choice of service provider that provides you with e-transfers or debits. The only one you have access to is the one that's owned by the banks.

[Shereen Benzvy Miller]

As a consumer, you have the choice to use those services or not—

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

No, you don't.

[Shereen Benzvy Miller]

—as long as you understand the cost of using them.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

I have no choice.

[Shereen Benzvy Miller]

To use e-transfer or not—

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Let me finish, please.

If I have Royal Bank, TD, CIBC or Scotiabank, they all own the one provider. I don't get a choice to use Interac or somebody else. I have to use what they have. That's a monopoly.

You're a consumer protection agency, and you haven't looked at that issue.

[Shereen Benzvy Miller]

I'm not the Competition Bureau, sir. I can—