Posted on 06 October 2009
OTTAWA – Liberal Senator Pierrette Ringuette (New Brunswick) today introduced two Senate Public Bills that seek to address significant flaws in the credit and debit card payment systems that were identified in a recent Senate Banking, Trade and Commerce Committee report.
“The Minister of Finance has ignored calls from small and medium sized businesses across Canada to take action and ensure that everyone in the credit and debit markets is working on a level playing field,” said Senator Ringuette. “These Bills that I’ve introduced today will increase transparency and accountability, and address the concerns of businesses and consumers who are seeing the cost of using their credit and debit cards skyrocket.”
The first Bill, An Act to amend the Canadian Payments Act (debit card payment systems), will amend existing legislation to specifically name Interac, Visa and MasterCard as “designated payment systems” under the Canadian Payments Act. With Visa and MasterCard entering the Canadian debit market, this legislation will ensure that all three debit card operators will be subject to the same laws and standards.
The second Bill, An Act to amend the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Act (credit and debit cards) implements one of the key recommendations of the Senate Banking, Trade and Commerce Committee report which called on the Minister of Finance to appoint an oversight body to closely monitor the debit and credit card industry in Canada. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions already provides some oversight into Canada’s financial services sector; this new legislation would grant the Superintendent the specific authority to oversee the rates and fees charged by banks for the use of credit and debit cards.
“There is real urgency with respect to debit cards in Canada. Visa and MasterCard are already moving into the market aggressively, and unless we take quick action, we’ll see a system where these two new companies are operating under one set of rules, and Interac is operating under a different set,” said Senator Ringuette.
“Since I’ve started working on this issue, all I’ve heard from stakeholders is that they want fairness. This legislation that I’ve tabled today is a start towards a system that works on behalf of consumers and small and medium sized businesses, who are the engines of growth in our economy.”
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For additional information:
Michael Gendron
Office of the Honourable Senator Pierrette Ringuette
(613)292-0699