Visa is widening its Canadian small-merchant interchange program starting Saturday, October 24, 2026.
Visa’s current small-merchant guide lists businesses as eligible when they have Visa volume of C$300,000 or less annually. Moneris now lists qualifying criteria effective October 24, 2026, at less than C$750,000 in annual Visa credit, debit and prepaid volume, while also showing updated small-business interchange rates for qualifying merchants.
The threshold is Visa volume, not total business revenue. Visa’s guide defines volume as total Canada domestic and cross-border sales completed with Visa credit, debit or prepaid products. The lower interchange rates apply to eligible domestic consumer credit transactions; international, commercial, debit and other transaction types follow separate rules or schedules.
Mastercard is not expanding its small-business program at the same time, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), and its threshold remains $175,000.
Payments Dive reported on October 21 that Visa confirmed the Canadian interchange changes and said the company is targeting an average 95-basis-point interchange rate for eligible small merchants on domestic consumer credit card-present transactions.
Selected rate examples from Visa’s current guide and Moneris’s updated program page show how some common small-merchant rates are changing:
Selected Visa small-merchant rate
Current Visa guide
Updated rate listed by Moneris
Classic, Gold and Platinum card present
0.77%
0.70%
Classic, Gold and Platinum card not present
1.30%
1.20%
Classic, Gold and Platinum card not present, tokenized
1.25%
1.15%
Visa Infinite card present
0.99%
0.89%
Visa Infinite card not present
1.55%
1.45%
Visa Infinite Privilege card present
1.80%
1.70%
Visa Infinite Privilege card not present
2.30%
2.20%
Those are selected examples, not a full fee schedule. Processors can also use different statement descriptors and implementation dates, so the clearest evidence will be on merchant notices and statements.
Why merchant statements may not drop by the headline amount
Visa’s interchange explainer says interchange is paid by the merchant’s financial institution, known as the acquirer, to the cardholder’s issuing financial institution. Visa also says interchange is not revenue to Visa in Canada. Merchants usually pay an acquirer or processor, and the merchant discount can include interchange, network assessments, service fees, terminal costs and processor margin.
That distinction matters because a lower interchange rate does not automatically mean the same reduction appears on every merchant statement. Moneris says it is passing through the reduced rates to eligible merchants on simplified pricing, including interchange-plus or cost-plus. TD Merchant Solutions says eligible merchants on interchange-plus pricing will qualify for updated Visa interchange rates, while some non-interchange-plus merchants may see a reduced Visa Credit Rate effective November 1, 2026, with changes appearing on November statements delivered in December.
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada’s Code of Conduct for the Payment Card Industry in Canada gives merchants certain disclosure and cancellation rights when applicable domestic network core fee reductions are not passed on in full. The Code requires notice in specific cases. When an applicable domestic network core fee reduction is not passed through in full, merchants have 70 calendar days after the change takes effect to give notice of their intent to cancel without penalty.
A narrow example of the possible savings
Using TD Merchant Solutions’ posted upcoming non-qualifying rates as a comparison, a merchant newly eligible for Visa’s small-merchant program with $500,000 in eligible in-person Classic, Gold or Platinum domestic consumer credit volume would see interchange fall from 1.25% to 0.70%. If fully passed through, that difference equals $2,750 less in interchange over a year before processor markups and other fees.
For the same $500,000 in eligible card-not-present volume on Classic, Gold or Platinum consumer credit cards, the move from TD’s listed 1.40% non-qualifying rate to the 1.20% small-merchant rate equals $1,000 less in interchange before other pricing effects.
Those examples are intentionally narrow. Actual savings depend on whether transactions qualify, whether sales are in person or online, which Visa card products customers use, whether another industry program already applies, and whether the processor passes the reduction through in full.
The separate fee concern
CFIB also warned that new credit card processing fees are coming. The group said Visa has announced plans to join Mastercard in assessing a new 1.8-cent USD fee on all domestic transactions. TD Merchant Solutions lists Mastercard’s new network fees as effective October 19, 2026, replacing earlier clearing fees. CFIB said Visa intends to introduce the same 1.8-cent USD fee in April 2027.
CFIB said those fees are first charged to card processors but are routinely passed on to small merchants. At 10,000 domestic transactions, a 1.8-cent USD per-transaction fee equals US$180 before exchange rates and processor treatment. That kind of flat fee weighs more heavily on lower-ticket, high-volume businesses than on businesses with fewer, larger transactions.
What merchants should check next
The change is most relevant to businesses that were above the old $300,000 Visa threshold but fall under the new $750,000 level. Existing small-merchant participants may also benefit from lower rates on eligible transactions.
Qualification status: Processor notices should clarify whether Visa volume is counted across more than one acquirer or processor and which 12-month assessment period applies.
Transaction eligibility: The small-merchant rates apply to eligible domestic consumer credit transactions, not every card transaction.
Statement descriptors: Merchants may need to compare old and new statements to confirm whether eligible transactions move into small-merchant categories.
Pricing model: Interchange-plus pricing may make rate changes easier to identify, while flat or blended pricing may require comparing total effective rates and processor notices.
Surcharging: Moneris and TD both indicate that merchants that surcharge Visa transactions may not qualify for reduced Visa small-merchant rates.
Separate fees: CFIB’s reported 1.8-cent USD transaction fee should be tracked separately from interchange reductions if it is passed through by a processor.
How this fits with Canada’s small-business card-fee deal
The federal government finalized agreements with Visa and Mastercard in December 2023 to lower credit card transaction fees for small businesses. At the time, the government said the agreements would help more than 90% of credit-card-accepting businesses in Canada qualify for lower rates and estimated about $1 billion in savings over five years.
Those agreements set lower rates for small businesses under the earlier $300,000 Visa and $175,000 Mastercard thresholds. Visa’s October 2026 change expands the Visa side of that framework to more merchants and lowers several small-merchant rates.
Get new small business insights by email
Practical ideas and useful articles to help you make better business decisions.
Tech Help Canada Staff researches, writes, and reviews practical content for business owners and professionals. Our coverage spans business, marketing, SEO, technology, and the tools and systems people use to grow and operate online. We focus on clear, useful information backed by research, hands-on experience, and editorial review. Learn more about our team and editorial standards. Need help with something? Contact Us
