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Processing fees can range from 1% to 3% or more of the transaction and can add up quickly, cutting into small businesses’ already razor-thin profit margins and/or forcing them to increase their prices to keep up.

As a result of a recent settlement in a class action lawsuit against Visa and Mastercard, merchants can now choose to surcharge on credit card transactions to cover their credit card costs. As of October 6, 2022, you may begin to see this surcharge on your receipt when you pay by credit card *.

Whether you’re shopping in-store or online, if a merchant has chosen to surcharge to help cover their credit card costs, they will post the surcharge rate that consumers will pay at the point of sale and on their website. The surcharge will never exceed the fee the merchant pays to the credit card provider.

Consumers who prefer not to pay a surcharge can ask the merchant if they accept another form of payment, like cash or debit.

*With the exception of the Province of Quebec, where the Consumer Protection Act does not allow surcharging.

ACHIEVING KEY VICTORIES
on credit cards for your business

read more
Zoomed in photo of a MasterCard


78% of Canadians own credit cards linked to rewards, most of which carry a higher cost for merchants to accept

PROVIDING MERCHANT ADVICE
such as how to choose a credit card provider

read more

OFFERING SAVINGS
like exclusive low rates with Chase for Visa, Mastercard and American Express

read more

What is the Credit Card Class Action Settlement and what does it meant to your business?

Join CFIB and the Credit Card Class Action Administrators and learn more! Already a CFIB member? Please register here

Register Now

What is the Credit Card Class Action Settlement and what does it meant to your business?

Join CFIB and the Credit Card Class Action Administrators and learn more! Already a CFIB member? Please register here

 

REGISTER NOW

CFIB Takes On The Credit Card Industry

Credit cards may be handy for consumers – but they can be expensive for merchants like you! Since 2008, CFIB has been negotiating with government and the credit card industry to level the playing field and lower processing fees for your business.

How CFIB is helping merchants like you:

CFIB Takes On The Credit Card Industry

Credit cards may be handy for consumers – but they can be expensive for merchants like you! Since 2008, CFIB has been negotiating with government and the credit card industry to level the playing field and lower processing fees for your business.

How CFIB is helping merchants like you:

ACHIEVING KEY VICTORIES
on credit cards for your business

read more
Zoomed in photo of a MasterCard

GIVING YOU MORE RIGHTS by developing the Credit Card Code of Conduct

read more

PROVIDING MERCHANT ADVICE
such as how to choose a credit card provider

read more

OFFERING SAVINGS
like exclusive low rates with Chase for Visa, Mastercard and American Express

read more

Who is CFIB?

CFIB is the voice for small business representing 97,000 small businesses across Canada. For the last 50 years, CFIB has advocated for small business rights with governments and large businesses (like credit card companies). Since 2008, CFIB has pushed for fairness in the credit card industry by lowering processing fees and contributing to the creation of the Credit Card Code of Conduct. We continue to fight for lower interchange fees, no credit card fees on GST/HST, more fairness for merchants on “chargebacks”, and for no fees on prepaid cards and refunds. We also provide business support and savings so that small business owners can get back to running their business and contribute to their communities.

Life Insuranse

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy of type and scrambled it to make e a type specimen book. It  remaining essentially

Life Insuranse

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy of type and scrambled it to make e a type specimen book. It  remaining essentially

Life Insuranse

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy of type and scrambled it to make e a type specimen book. It  remaining essentially

Life Insuranse

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy of type and scrambled it to make e a type specimen book. It  remaining essentially

What’s Our Members Are Saying

It’s not only the “fees” that we pay to accept credit cards as a form of payment. There is rent on the machine, taxes on that rent, extra discount (which isn’t a discount at all) charges on “specialty” cards, that we have no idea about until we get our statement at month end, and almost EVERY credit card is a specialty card in some way and therefore you pay more to accept them. It’s quite a racket they have going on and you don’t deal directly with the credit card companies. You must deal with a merchant service supplier, a middleman who has fees of their own and markup. It’s a racket and all at the expense of us “merchants”. Credit card companies are capitalizing at our expense on the fact that people have become dependent on their credit card to make ends meet. Mostly when we suggest they use email transfers or their debit cards to pay, our customers aren’t able to and it costs US more, not them. These extra charges we will be able to charge them will mitigate this to a small extent.

Retailer in BC

  It is getting very very expensive to let customers pay with credit cards, especially since B2B fees are higher than B2C ones; on average we pay between 4-5% for every card transaction!!! we started to encourage customers to use other ways of payment and brought down our credit card fees significantly (we rather give 2% discount to customer for paying by other means, than having credit card companies charge us 4-5%). We still pay almost $100k per year of credit card fees and ability to charge fee for credit card transaction would help us tremendously. 

Member in Quebec

I pay close to $8000 per year to accept credit cards. I have 2 separate small businesses so in total it's almost $20,000 per year. It feels like price gouging to charge their crazy fees in addition to the interest payments from credit card holders.

2-3% off the bottom line is significant to our business. We have no choice but to accept cards as they have almost (90%) replaced cash.

CFIB Member

How to Claim

Starting May 30, 2022, you can submit a claim through the Credit Card Class Action website. What you will need to know: 

  • Name
  • Contact information
  • Size of your business / annual revenues during the claim period (can be classified as a small, medium, or large business – see table below)
  • Attestation that you collected credit card payments at some point since March 23, 2001 – more information to come on details of attestation requirements

Note: No documentation is required for merchants classified as “small businesses”.

Claim Here

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Process

You will receive confirmation that your claim was submitted successfully. Your application will then be reviewed and either approved or denied.

If you are approved, you can expect to receive your funds before the end of 2022 by direct deposit or cheque (opting for a cheque will deduct $2 from your claim).

If you are denied, you will receive a decision notice. No appeal process exists for small business claims. If you have any concerns, you can speak to the claim administrator.

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What our members are saying

Most customers have no idea that businesses pay a fee to process credit cards, and even more do not realize that rewards cards cost even more, that remote entry and tap cost even more. Nothing is free, and people just don't get that. 

CFIB Member

I pay close to $8000 per year to accept credit cards. I have 2 separate small businesses so in total it's almost $20,000 per year. It feels like price gouging to charge their crazy fees in addition to the interest payments from credit card holders.

CFIB Member

How Much You'll Receive

Merchant size Average annual revenue over the claim period Amount you can receive per year you incurred merchant discount fees
Small merchant Less than $5 million $30 / year (max $600)
Medium merchant Between $5 million to $20 million $250 / year (max $5,000)
Large merchant $20 million + $250 / year 

With your support, we will continue to fight for:

  • Lower interchange fees
  • No swipe fees on GST/HST
  • More fairness for merchants on “chargebacks”
  • No fees on prepaid cards and refunds

Join Now

Smiling customer paying by credit card at the bakery

Eligibility

Application deadline is September 30, 2022!

You’re eligible to receive a portion of the settlement if you:

•  Were a merchant in Canada at any point between March 23, 2001, and September 2, 2021,
• Accepted Visa and/or Mastercard credit cards as payment for goods and services,
•  Incurred merchant discount fees, including interchange fees.

FAQ - How do I claim my money?

When can I expect to receive my claim payout?

After the claim portal closes on September 30, 2022, the administrators will evaluate the number of claims before paying out claimants before the end of 2022.

My business is now closed, am I still eligible?

Yes, if you collected credit card payments between March 23, 2001, and September 2, 2021, you will be eligible to claim money from the settlement.

What is the cost of submitting a claim to the settlement? Do I need a third-party provider?

There is no cost to submitting a claim to the settlement. The process is simple and requires no documentation for small businesses. Some third-party providers may offer to submit your claim on your behalf for a fee.

What is the deadline to submit a claim to the settlement?

Merchants will have until September 30th, 2022 to submit a claim through the Online Claim Portal or postmarked mail.
You cannot submit a claim after the deadline. Any questions or concerns about the deadline can be directed to the Claims Administrator.

Can I appeal if my claim is rejected?

No, undocumented claims cannot be appealed. An appeal process only exists for medium and large businesses who decide to submit a documented claim. These must be sent to an arbitrator within 30 days of a Decision Notice and require a $150 filing fee.

How do I report the settlement money in my taxes?

According to the Canada Revenue Agency, this settlement money should be treated as income and is subject to tax.

Who do I contact for issues or complaints with my claim?

As of May 30th, when the portal opens, you can contact the Claims administrator who will be able to assist you in filing a claim form at no cost. Until May 30th, you can:

  • Register to stay informed and receive direct notice of any important developments, including when to make a claim
  • Email any questions to the lawyers 

How can I learn more about the lawsuit?

The Credit Card Class Actions Settlements have a website with more information.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is surcharging?

A credit card surcharge is an additional fee that a merchant can choose to charge a consumer’s bill when they pay with a credit card at the point of sale.

Does using my credit card cost a business money?

Each time a credit card is used, the credit card companies charge the business a percentage of the transaction amount as a fee. This percentage can range from 1% to 3% or more per transaction, but really varies depending on the type of card and the type of transaction. Generally, the more rewards your card offer (i.e., travel points, cash back, insurance), the more it costs the business to process your transaction.

Which credit cards will merchants be able to surcharge?

Merchants can choose whether to surcharge on the credit card brand (all Visa and Mastercard transactions) or specific types of credit cards that carry a higher merchant fee (eg. Elite/Infinite that provide the consumer with points or “cash back”). They can only surcharge the amount that they pay as a merchant to a maximum of 2.4%.

Does this change anything when I pay with debit payments?

Merchants have long had the right to add a fee to debit card transactions. This continues to be an option for merchants, save for businesses that operate in Quebec where the provincial Consumer Protection Act does not allow it.

Why are businesses suddenly adding a surcharge?

Until now, most businesses were not permitted to surcharge. Following a class action lawsuit, Visa and Mastercard are allowing businesses to pass along the cost of processing a credit card transaction to consumers.

Are all businesses going to surcharge?

No. All Merchants now have the option to surcharge. It will be up to each individual business owner to decide.

What if the business doesn’t accept cash or debit?

Businesses can decide which legal tender(s) to accept. Should a business only accept credit cards, they can still choose to surcharge credit card transactions; however, the customer must have the option to cancel their purchase if they do not want to pay the surcharge.