Industry committee  No, but the problem is for the merchant. I don't think the merchant would want that. The merchant will not know whether she, coming in with her Visa card, and I, coming in with my Visa card, will have different rates.

Industry committee  But the interchange rate, by definition, is the cost to the merchants for the benefits they derive out of the payments. So it doesn't make sense.

Finance committee  No, but the problem is for the merchant. I don't think the merchant would want that. The merchant will not know whether she, coming in with her Visa card, and I, coming in with my Visa card, will have different rates.

Finance committee  But the interchange rate, by definition, is the cost to the merchants for the benefits they derive out of the payments. So it doesn't make sense.

Industry committee  I'll answer that. First of all, interchange rates are a charge to the merchant--not to the consumer, to the merchant--for the benefits that they receive.

Industry committee  There are a couple of things here. Let's say you allow each bank to set the interchange. The first problem is that payment cards are not a Canadian phenomenon. We have to allow those cards to be used everywhere else in the world, and those merchants need to know what the rates

Finance committee  I'll answer that. First of all, interchange rates are a charge to the merchant--not to the consumer, to the merchant--for the benefits that they receive.

Finance committee  There are a couple of things here. Let's say you allow each bank to set the interchange. The first problem is that payment cards are not a Canadian phenomenon. We have to allow those cards to be used everywhere else in the world, and those merchants need to know what the rates

Industry committee  I'm not sure I understand the question.

Finance committee  I'm not sure I understand the question.

Industry committee  The FCAC came to us over a year ago to simplify the application form. They worked with MasterCard and the CBA, and we've been working on that. That's a great example.

Finance committee  The FCAC came to us over a year ago to simplify the application form. They worked with MasterCard and the CBA, and we've been working on that. That's a great example.

Industry committee  I can answer that. From a merchant's standpoint, there's more competition. Merchants right now have one choice, Interac, and we have concerns with it because we've been declining in market share. The ultimate control over the pricing is that merchants decide whether they're going

Industry committee  I think there are some issues that we're confusing here. One is--

Industry committee  One is competition and the other is interchange on debit. Canada is one of the only countries in the world without interchange on debit. I agree that any interchange is going to be higher, but the no-interchange model is not sustainable for Interac or any other competitor.