Merchants, business groups and government officials gathered Monday night to shed light on an issue retailers claim they're being increasingly left in the dark over.
Hosted by New Westminster-Coquitlam MP Fin Donnelly, the forum focused on credit card processing rates and the transparency around those fees.
At issue is the fact that Canadian retailers are being charged processing fees in excess of two per cent, which are higher than in places like Australia and the U.K.
According to Donnelly and those in the retail sector, not only are those rates putting Canadian businesses at a disadvantage, but service providers aren't always providing the necessary context behind those charges.
"A number of businesses, as I've been doing work in the riding over time, have mentioned to me about the credit card processing fee rates and how much of a concern it is to them," Donnelly said. "It's the rates, but there's a lot of confusion that I've heard coming from businesses around the statements they receive.
Businesses tell me they're told one thing, and when they get their statements, it's quite different."
New Westminster Chamber of Commerce executive director Cori Lynn Germiquet said Monday's meeting provided businesses with an opportunity to talk about the impact of the fees.
"It's quite alarming when you hear the business community and their concerns and what this is doing to their business," Germiquet said. "I think it's one of the advocacy issues that's going to be successful if we all work together."
They heard from one business owner who said she couldn't afford to get into the credit-card game, so she only takes cash from her customers, Germiquet said.
"So you can imagine how that hinders her ability to do business," she said.
Another business owner told them that he pays more in credit card processing fees than his net income earnings bring in, Germique said.
"We need the business community to know we are fighting on their behalf," she said.
Germiquet expects there will be more meetings on the topic in the future.
"It's not something that's going to go away, and, unless we fight for it, it will never change," she said.
Shafiq Jamal, vice-president of the Western Canadian wing of the Canadian Retail Council, told The Record Monday that issues around processing fees began to arise around 2008 with the advent of loyalty and premium credit cards - those that offer extra points and other perks to cardholders.
According to Jamal, the fees associated with those premium cards are even higher for retailers to pay than standardized credit cards.
"In the highly competitive market that we're operating in now, retailers are hurting because it's not always a case of being able to pass those costs on. So you're having to internalize and eat some of those costs," he said.
According to Shelfspace president and CEO Mark Startup, those fee increases were not necessarily communicated in a clear manner to many retailers and merchants.
"It wasn't until the banks started issuing these premium cards, at a time when the Canadian economy went into a tailspin in the post-2008 era," he said. "Merchants started looking at their bank statements very carefully and saw that their credit card processing fees as a percentage of gross sales started to go up quite dramatically. There's no incentive for the big credit cards to lower their prices."
As for what will come from Monday's forum, Donnelly said he needs more time and feedback before deciding on followup measures - increased lobbying and pressure or a private member's bill are the options he's considering.
"I think the business community understands that you have to cover costs and make a profit, but you need to be transparent about it, and it also needs to be fair," he said. "What is fair, that's what we're hoping to hear from businesses throughout this process."
