Dan Kelly is a vice president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. He has written an excellent primer for both storekeepers and consumers who wish to keep down the cost of transactions, and ultimately keep down prices. There is a connection. The phenomenon is as recent as the banks starting to issue so-called premium cards which carry charges of as much as three per cent to the retailer. Here is some of Kelly’s advice: “Take this test. Which MasterCard do you think would cost more to accept: a) President’s Choice MasterCard or b) Capital One Cash Back Gold MasterCard? For Visa, which is more costly: a) Royal Bank Visa Infinite Avion or b) CIBC Aerogold Visa? If you answered a) for each, then you did better than the merchants CFIB tested in a short telephone survey. Words like Gold, Platinum, Cash Back or Points do not mean the card necessarily costs anything extra to a merchant. However, words such as World or World Elite on your MasterCard likely mean the merchant is paying among the highest fees out there.” Read Dan Kelly’s column
