RCC Calls On Government To Slash Credit Card Feed

The federal government missed the mark on its budget by not including two key proposals from Retail Council of Canada (RCC) that could have made life more affordable for Canadian families by saving them up to $1,000 per year on average, says the organization. While RCC concedes the budget contains a number of initiatives to address affordability challenges facing families, slashing interchange rates for credit card acceptance and eliminating or suspending customers duties could have saved Canadian families much more. Together, these charges cost Canadians $16 billion annually. RCC says Canadians pay among the highest ‘swipe fees’ in the world. As the system is set up now, consumers with modest incomes subsidize prices for wealthier consumers who use premium and super premium cards. As well, growth in credit card sales have vastly outstripped (almost doubled) the growth in sales of the underlying goods at retail. Since credit is vastly more expensive for businesses to accept than debit or cash, the interchange growth on credit card sales has an inflationary impact. In addition, hidden taxes on consumer goods place a burden of approximately $400 per household.