Tag: credit card processing fee

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Mobile Syrup

CRTC to issue Telus credit card fee decision in 45 business days

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) published a response to Telus’ request to add a credit card processing fee, saying it will make a decision within 45 business days.

Moreover, the CRTC said it will not approve the request “on an interim basis on the 15th calendar day following receipt” due to the “many interventions opposing this application.”

On August 9th, MobileSyrup reported on Telus’ request to the CRTC to add a credit card processing fee to customers’ bills. The fee would apply to customers who pay via credit card, and would be set at 1.5 percent of the payment amount plus applicable taxes.

In its request, Telus cited a lawsuit against credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard — the lawsuit will enable businesses to pass along credit card fees to customers starting in October. As a brief refresher, credit card companies previously charged businesses what are called interchange fees on purchases made using credit cards and had rules preventing businesses that accepted credit cards from passing the fees onto customers. Interchange fees range between one and three percent and often fund credit card rewards like cashback or loyalty points.

A settlement reached by the lawsuit would allow businesses to get a rebate on these fees as well as strike down the rules preventing businesses from passing on the fees to customers. While it remains unclear how many businesses will go through with passing fees to customers, Telus’ request to the CRTC to add a credit card processing fee upset Canadians, sparking a significant response from the public on the application.

The CRTC’s interventions page for the Telus request, which includes public comments and other responses, lists over 2,601 entries at the time of writing. Many of those entries include complaints about the high costs of wireless and internet bills in Canada, while others take aim at the federal government and CRTC for failing to protect Canadians from telecom companies.

Those who want to lend their voice can file interventions by heading to this link and then clicking the blue ‘Submit’ button next to the request. If you want to learn more about the lawsuit, check out the MobileSyrup explainer available here.

Source: CRTC

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Mobile Syrup

Eastlink and SaskTel have no plans to add a credit card processing fee for now

Telus has asked the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to allow it to charge customers paying for services with credit cards a processing fee. At least two major telecom companies in Canada won’t follow suit.

Telus’ application says the fee would be set at 1.5 percent, and apply to new and existing customers starting October 17th, pending approval. It was posted on the CRTC’s website under proceeding open for comment on August 8th.

MobileSyrup has examined the proceedings list and, at the time of writing, didn’t find any similar applications from other telecom companies.

Eastlink told MobileSyrup it hasn’t made an application to the CRTC on the matter and has no plans to charge the fee in the near future. SaskTel had a similar response.

“SaskTel has not made this type of request to the CRTC, nor do we plan to add a similar fee at this time,” a spokesperson said.

So why has Telus asked to charge customers this fee?

Back in 2010, merchants filed a class action lawsuit against Visa, MasterCard, and various financial institutions against such fees. Every time a customer used a Visa or MasterCard to pay for a service, the merchant had to pay the credit card company a fee, sometimes referred to as a merchant fee or a card acceptance fee. In 2009, merchants in Canada paid $5 billion in such fees.

Visa and MasterCard eventually settled for $19.5 million each, claiming no wrongdoing.

Come October 6th, the rules will change. The settlement also allows merchants, like Telus, to pass credit card fees they paid onto customers.

As illustrated by the responses Eastlink and SaskTel made, it’s up to the company if they want the customers to pay this fee or if they’ll continue to take it on themselves.

TekSavvy said it won’t provide a comment on the matter.

MobileSyrup also reached out to Bell, Rogers, Québecor, and Vidéotron but didn’t receive a response at the time of publication. This story will be updated when more information becomes available.

Image credit: Shutterstock

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Mobile Syrup

Telus to add a credit card processing fee starting in October, pending CRTC approval

Vancouver-based national telecom Telus has filed a request with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to add a credit card processing fee to customers’ bills later this year.

According to a document filed with the CRTC on August 8th, 2022, Telus wants the fee to apply to new and existing customers who make credit card payments for Telus services. The fee would be set at 1.5 percent of the payment amount plus applicable taxes.

A segment of Telus’ credit card fee request sent to the CRTC.

In an example based on an Alberta customer, Telus says a $100 bill with $5 in GST would include a $1.58 processing fee and $0.08 in additional GST on said fee, for a total final bill of $106.66.

Telus sites a 2018 class action lawsuit that resulted in Visa and Mastercard agreeing to modify their no-surcharge rules. Both companies previously included clauses in agreements with merchants that prevented them from adding surcharges to cover the cost of transaction fees, which The Globe and Mail explains are used to fund loyalty programs and reward points.

The rule change will come into effect starting October 6th — Telus requested that its new credit card processing fee come into effect on October 17th, 2022. Moreover, Telus says it plans to provide “advanced notice” to customers starting in mid-August.

Those who pay their cellphone bill with a credit card may want to consider switching to an alternate payment method if they want to avoid paying additional fees, assuming the CRTC approves the request.

You can view the document for yourself here (the link will download a .zip file).