Feedback Request - ACTA Advocacy

Your feedback is needed on two important national issues!

1) Small Business Matters Coalition

ACTA has been a member of the Small Business Matters (SBM) Coalition for a number of years  with the primary focus of addressing exorbitant credit card fees imposed by the major credit card companies and merchant providers. Lately the SBM Coalition has been gaining traction and getting face time with government officials particularly since the recent and public dispute between Wal-Mart and Visa. In fact, and this is where we need your help, the chief of the Financial Sector Policy Branch with the Department of Finance Canada has requested information from the members of the coalition organizations to better understand the relative acceptance costs of cash, debit and credit for various types and sizes of merchants. To aid in this effort, it would be helpful if any embers could provide estimates of these costs for each type of payment, ideally over a few years to observe trends, etc. To facilitate the comparison of various methods of payments:

  • These costs should be reported on a per transaction basis for an average transaction value (either the average transaction value for each payment method, for all transactions or both);
  • Interchange should be separated from other acquiring charges if the merchant account pricing model allows; and
  • The cost of cash should be as comprehensive as possible and include, for example: labour costs of tender time, labour costs of back-office activities, costs related to theft and counterfeit cash, the opportunity cost of funds in transit and float, and the cost of transporting cash.

The Department of Finance Canada does recognize that many merchants may not be able to produce this information, however, they appreciate any information you can provide. In addition, any information provided to the Department of Finance will be kept strictly confidential.

2) PCI DSS Compliance

For IATA appointed agencies, by now you are aware of the looming deadline of June 1, 2017 to be PCI DSS Complaint as IATA has sent notifications through their BSPLink network. At the last global IATA Airline conference (PAConf/39), it was adopted that PCI DSS compliance would be a mandatory condition to obtain and retain accreditation as an IATA Accredited Agent in all its Accredited locations under the Passenger Sales Agency Rules in Resolution 818g. In case of a non-compliance with PCI DSS security standards, 2 instances of irregularity will be recorded for the agency. 

The compliance procedure will vary according to the type of payment system adopted by the agent, the number of credit card transactions, as well as on the manner the credit card data is processed and stored.

In the upcoming months, ACTA will be providing you with more information to assist you in understanding how to meet these compliance requirements. ACTA has learned of many challenges faced by members of our global counterparts. With that in mind, ACTA is interested in learning what challenges you may have faced when contacting either your bank, the acquirer (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover and JCB International), your merchant provider (ie: Moneris, First Data, etc.), or your third party service providers (GDS, etc.).

Please share your feedback and experiences by emailing Heather Craig-Peddie, Vice President Advocacy and Member Relations at hcraig-peddie@acta.ca