🏙️ Credit card fees are going down for Vancouver's small businesses

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Good news if you work for a small business: credit card transaction fees are going down.

The federal government has announced that it has finalized agreements with Visa and Mastercard to drop domestic consumer credit interchange fees for both in-store transactions and online shopping.

The agreed-upon decreases will result in big savings, the government says. It estimates the changes will help 90 percent of credit card-accepting businesses in Canada, and reduce interchange fees by up to 27 per cent.

The new rates will come into effect in fall next year, and are expected to save eligible Canadian small businesses about $1 billion over five years. The lower fees will apply to companies with an annual Visa sales volume below $300,000 or an annual Mastercard sales volume below $175,000.

“The new agreements secured with Visa and Mastercard will make credit card transactions fairer for small businesses, which have less bargaining power than larger merchants to negotiate lower rates," Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a press release announcing the changes.

"With lower interchange fees, small businesses will save money that they can use to grow their businesses and create more good jobs.”

Now, onto your daily briefing.

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