Finance committee  That is the case. In some cases we'll end up absorbing them. It's a negotiation with the merchant, depending on what the market will bear and what competition will bear. But yes, that's exactly right.

Finance committee  Yes. Overall, as the interchange levels and the assessment levels have gone up.... And actually, as I looked at our last audited numbers through 2008, the interchange had gone up at a little over 2% a year, I think, in terms of their rate. And then our merchant fees had gone up a

Finance committee  Sure. In the case of the fee increases, what percentage has been passed on? It varies by merchant, but I would say with the larger merchants, typically they tend to be priced at whatever interchange is plus so many cents per transaction. That tends to be how most of them are pric

Finance committee  Since 2001, with the changes, about half the fees have been passed on to the merchants.

Industry committee  That is the case. In some cases we'll end up absorbing them. It's a negotiation with the merchant, depending on what the market will bear and what competition will bear. But yes, that's exactly right.

Industry committee  Yes. Overall, as the interchange levels and the assessment levels have gone up.... And actually, as I looked at our last audited numbers through 2008, the interchange had gone up at a little over 2% a year, I think, in terms of their rate. And then our merchant fees had gone up a

Industry committee  Sure. In the case of the fee increases, what percentage has been passed on? It varies by merchant, but I would say with the larger merchants, typically they tend to be priced at whatever interchange is plus so many cents per transaction. That tends to be how most of them are pric

Industry committee  Since 2001, with the changes, about half the fees have been passed on to the merchants.

Finance committee  In some respects it's a bad thing for us, though, because if the merchant isn't able to honour the liability--the merchant processor, or us, or just business, for example--we end up absorbing that liability. So this particular rule is a very, very bad thing from the merchant pers

Finance committee  Yes, absolutely.

Finance committee  The same is true for us, with the addition of MasterCard.

Finance committee  The fees are negotiated individually with each merchant, but the vast majority of the fee would be the merchant discount rate, the fee that we charge to the merchant. From a cost perspective, the vast majority would be interchange, and then assessments, and then our operating inf

Finance committee  That's exactly the case. Their fee base for their shareholders is generated from service or assessment fees, and that's included in our cost. So they will bill us quarterly, based on our overall volume, and then we'll remit money to both Visa and MasterCard as well as Interac for

Industry committee  In some respects it's a bad thing for us, though, because if the merchant isn't able to honour the liability--the merchant processor, or us, or just business, for example--we end up absorbing that liability. So this particular rule is a very, very bad thing from the merchant pers

Industry committee  The same is true for us, with the addition of MasterCard.