In addition to your Discount Rate, Per Transaction Fee, Card Brand Fee, any Interchange Adjustments and Non-Qual Surcharge you agreed to in Section D of the Card Acceptance Form, you also agree to pay the following Pass Through Fees regulated by the Payment Card Networks including Visa®, Mastercard®, Discover®, Amex®, UnionPay®, and Interac® whose cards you accept and these fees may change from time to time at the Payment Card Networks discretion.
For detailed descriptions of these pass through fees, refer to the Pass Through Rates and Description Table below.
Interchange Rates
Interchange is the amount that Acquirers such as First Data Canada are required to pay Card Issuers by way of the Payment Card Networks such as Visa, Mastercard, and Discover for each credit or debit card transaction you process. Interchange rates are set and regulated by the Payment Card Networks and can vary by card type and method of acceptance. Interchange rates are also subject to periodic changes as determined by the individual Payment Card Networks. Click here for current and future Interchange rates a published by the Payment Card Networks.
Pass Through Rates and Description Table
| Fee | Cost | Fee Description |
| Mastercard Acquirer Assessment Fee | 0.1017% | Assessed to all Mastercard transactions. |
| Visa Acquirer Assessment Fee | 0.1017% | Assessed to all Visa transactions. |
| Discover Acquirer Assessment Fee | 0.0700% | Assessed to all Discover transactions. |
| Amex OptBlue Acquirer Assessment Fee (Network Fee) | 0.1200% | Assessed to all Amex/JCB transactions. |
| UnionPay (UPI) Acquirer Assessment Fee | 0.1000% | Assessed to all UPI Credit and Debit card transactions. |
| Mastercard Cross Border Assessment Fee- Canadian Currency | 1.1300% | Assessed to all Mastercard transactions when the country codes of the merchant and the cardholder differ and when the transaction currency is in Canadian Dollars. |
| Mastercard Cross Border Assessment Fee- Non-Canadian Currency | 1.1300% | Assessed to all Mastercard transactions when the country codes of the merchant and the cardholder differ and when the transaction currency is other than Canadian Dollars. |
| Mastercard Utility Fee | USD 0.0226 (billed in CAN equivalent) | Assessed to all Mastercard transactions for merchants with MCC 4900. |
| Mastercard Preauthorization Fee | 0.0565% with minimum fee of USD 0.0113 (billed in CAN equivalent) | Assessed to all Mastercard preauthorized transactions. |
| Mastercard Connectivity Fee | USD 0.0000089 per byte (billed in CAN equivalent) rounded up to the nearest kilobyte. | Assessed on all Mastercard transaction. |
| Mastercard Digital Enablement Fee | 0.0226% (minimum billing of USD 0.0226 billed in CAN equivalent) | Assessed on all Canada acquired approved and declined Card-Not-Present transactions. |
| Mastercard Enterprise - Global Wholesale Program (formerly named Wholesale Travel Program) | 0.8475% - Domestic 0.8475% - International | The Mastercard Wholesale Travel Program is designed to allow payments between travel buyers and suppliers, such as travel agents, airlines, and hotels using a virtual card. |
| Mastercard Enterprise - Freight Program | 0.565% - Domestic 0.565% - International | The Mastercard Freight Program is designed to allow participating businesses to make payments linked to the distribution of freight utilizing virtual Mastercard account numbers. |
| Mastercard Acquirer Clearing Fee | Fee is no longer applicable effective Oct 19, 2026 Acquirer Clearing Fee Small Ticket - 0.005 USD (billed in CAN equivalent) per cleared transaction where amount is 25.00 USD (billed in CAN equivalent) or less. Acquirer Clearing Fee Large Ticket - 0.0195 USD (billed in CAN equivalent) per cleared transaction where amount is 25.01 USD (billed in CAN equivalent) or more. | The Acquirer Clearing Fee is a fee billed by Mastercard to cover the costs associated with processing and clearing all transaction types through the Mastercard network. |
| Mastercard Authorization Optimizer Service | USD 0.0226 (billed in CAN equivalent) | Applies to card not present decline reason codes associated with the Mastercard Authorization Optimizer Service |
| Mastercard Processing Integrity non-compliance fine – Final Authorization TPE | 0.452%, USD $0.113 min (billed in CAN equivalent) | Applies to final authorizations that are not fully reversed or cleared within 7 calendar days of the authorization date or when the final authorization amount does not equal the clearing amount or when the final authorization currency code does not match the clearing currency code. |
| Mastercard Processing Integrity non-compliance fine – Undefined Authorization Not Allowed TPE | 0.452%, USD 0.113 min (billed in CAN equivalent) | Applies to authorizations that are not defined as final or pre-authorization transactions. |
| Mastercard Processing Integrity non-compliance fine – Pre Authorization TPE | 0.452%, USD 0.113 min (billed in CAN equivalent) | Applies to pre authorizations that are not fully reversed or cleared within 30 calendar days of the authorization date. |
| Mastercard Excessive Authorization Attempts Transaction Processing Excellence Program non-compliance fine | 0.565 USD (billed in CAN equivalent) | Applies to all transactions when multiple authorization attempts are made following declined response. |
| Mastercard Nominal Amount Authorization Transaction Processing Excellence Program non-compliance fine | USD 0.565 (billed in CAN equivalent) | Applies to all Mastercard transactions identified by Mastercard as a Nominal Amount Authorization transaction which is a transaction for an authorization with one full unit of currency and subsequently reversed in an effort to validate the card status. |
| Mastercard Acquirer License Fee | 0.005% | Applies to all Mastercard transactions. |
| Mastercard Mail Order and Telephone Order (MO/TO) Fee | 0.015% - Domestic 0.015% - Cross Border | Applies to all Mastercard card-not-present transaction where the cardholder orders goods or services and provides their payment card details by telephone, mail or other means of telecommunication. |
| Mastercard Authorization Validation Fee | 0.0339% | Applies to all Mastercard transactions not settled within within twenty-four (24) hours of authorization. |
| Mastercard Credential Continuity Program | USD 0.1017 (billed in CAN equivalent) per transaction | Applies to all Mastercard Recurring Payments transactions with expired credentials. |
| Mastercard Non-Local/Non-domestic Settlement Fee | 0.113% | Assessed on all cross border transactions where the settlement currency is other than Canadian Dollars. |
| Mastercard Network Access and Brand Usage (NABU) Fee | Effective Oct 19, 2026 Domestic Authorization - USD 0.0220 (billed in CAN equivalent) per transaction Domestic Reversal - USD 0.0011 (billed in CAN equivalent) per transaction Cross Border Authorization - USD 0.0333 (billed in CAN equivalent) per transaction Cross Border Reversal - USD 0.0167 (billed in CAN equivalent) per transaction | Fee is applicable to all Domestic and Cross-border transactions - authorizations and reversals. |
| Mastercard Crypto Card Transaction Fee | Effective January 18, 2027 0.05% | Fee is applicable to all transactions funded with cryptocurrency through Mastercard Crypto Cards. |
| Visa Cross Border Assessment Fees (also referred to as the International Service Fee “IASF) – Canadian Currency – Card Present and Card Not Present Transactions | 0.6780% | Assessed to all Visa transactions when the country codes of the merchant and the cardholder differ and when the transaction currency is in Canadian Dollars. |
| Visa Cross Border Assessment Fees (also referred to as the International Service Fee “IASF”) – Non-Canadian Currency – Card Present Transactions | 1.1300% | Assessed to all Visa transactions when the country codes of the merchant and the cardholder differ and when the transaction currency is other than Canadian Dollars. |
| Visa Cross Border Assessment Fees (also referred to as the International Service Fee) – Non-Canadian Currency – Card Not Present Transaction | 1.1865% | Assessed to all Visa transactions when the country codes of the merchant and the cardholder differ and when the transaction currency is other than Canadian Dollars. |
| Visa Non-domestic Settlement Fee | 0.2825% | Assessed on all cross border transactions where the settlement currency is other than Canadian Dollars. |
| Visa Multi-currency Non-domestic Settlement Fee | 0.2825% | Assessed on all cross border transactions when the settlement currency is other than Canada Dollars. (Note: If multiple currency settlement configuration is set up, the Multi-currency Non-domestic Settlement Fee will apply instead of the Non-Domestic Settlement Fee.) |
| Visa Card Verification Value Service (CVV2) | USD 0.0028 (billed in CAN equivalent) per transaction. | Assessed by Visa on all transactions using CVV2 to confirm both that the cardholder has the card in their possession and that the card is genuine. CVV2 is also used in zero-amount account verification messages to prevent storage of an invalid credential in merchant credential-on-file systems. A positive CVV2 match correlates with higher approval rates, reduced fraud, and fewer disputes. |
| Visa Address Verification Service (AVS) | USD 0.00113 (billed in CAN equivalent) per transaction. | Visa will assess a non-compliance fine for each transaction with manipulated data in an authorization reattempt. |
| Visa Account Verification | USD 0.0113 (billed in CAN equivalent) for each Canadian issued card account verification message. USD 0.0226 (billed in CAN equivalent) for each non-Canadian issued card account verification message. | An Account verification message, an optional transaction type, is used to verify the status of an account prior to an authorization |
| Visa Estimated and Incremental Authorizations | 0.0226% for Estimated Authorizations 0.0226% for Incremental Authorizations | Visa will assess a fee on all estimated authorization and incremental authorizations. An estimated authorization request, an optional transaction type, also referred to as a preauthorization, allows a merchant to obtain an approval for funds before a cardholder has identified exactly what good or services will be purchased. Within that same transaction journey, if the initial estimated amount is insufficient, a merchant may then submit an incremental authorization to increase the total authorized funds. |
| Visa B2B Service Fee | 0.678% - Domestic 1.752% - International | Designed to enable online travel agencies (OTAs), travel service providers, and other travel payment providers to use virtual accounts to pay their suppliers for inventory |
| Visa Commercial Solution Fee | 0.0113% - Debit and Prepaid Product 0.0113% - Credit Product | Assessed on all sales volumes from transactions made with Visa Business Solutions products. |
| Visa Non-Chip Terminal Use Compliance Program non-compliance fine | USD 0.1695 (billed in CAN equivalent) per transaction | Visa will assess a non-compliance fine for each transaction processed using a non-EMV enabled terminal. |
| Visa Key Entered Transaction Compliance Program non-compliance fine | USD 0.1695 (billed in CAN equivalent) per transaction | Visa will assess a non-compliance fine for each card not present (manually key entered) transaction improperly flagged. |
| Visa Excessive Transaction Reattempt Compliance Program non-compliance fine | Domestic transaction = USD 0.113 (billed in CAN equivalent) per transaction Cross Border transaction = USD 0.2825 (billed in CAN equivalent) per transaction | Visa will assess a non-compliance fine for each authorization attempt following a declined transaction. Do not reattempt. |
| Visa Data Consistency Compliance Program non-compliance fine | Domestic transaction = USD 0.113 (billed in CAN equivalent) per transaction | Cross Border transaction = USD 0.1695 (billed in CAN equivalent) per transaction | Visa will assess a non-compliance fine for each transaction with manipulated data in an authorization reattempt. |
| Visa Misuse of Authorization System fee | USD 0.0565 (billed in CAN equivalent) | Visa will assessed a non-compliance fine for each approved and partially approved authorization transactions that cannot be matched to a clearing transaction or authorization reversal. |
| Visa Unmatched Clearing fee | USD 0.0565 (billed in CAN equivalent) | Visa will assess a non-compliance fine for each clearing transactions that cannot be matched to previously approved or partially approved authorization transaction, |
| Digital Commerce Services Fee (DCSF) - Domestic | Domestic 0.01695% Minimum USD 0.0113 (billed in CAN equivalent) Effective April 1, 2027 Domestic 0.0254% Minimum USD 0.0141 (billed in CAN equivalent) | Visa will DCSF on Domestic Card Not Present (CNP) to help support the management, development and improvement of Visa services that enhance CNP transaction capabilities and help improve ecosystem performance. |
| Digital Commerce Services Fee (DCSF) - Cross-Border | Cross Border 0.03955% Minimum USD 0.0113 (billed in CAN equivalent) Effective April 1, 2027 Cross Border 0.05933% Minimum USD 0.0141 (billed in CAN equivalent) | Visa will DCSF on Cross Border Card Not Present (CNP) to help support the management, development and improvement of Visa services that enhance CNP transaction capabilities and help improve ecosystem performance. |
| Visa CP Token Fee | Domestic 0.0113% Cross‑border 0.0565% | Visa will assess the CP Token Fee to all transactions conducted via mobile wallet. |
| Visa Acquirer Embedded Payment Charge | Effective Nov 30, 2026 0.10% | Visa will assess a fee of 0.10% (10 bps) on select domestic and cross border B2B virtual card transactions originating from Visa Embedded Payment integrations. |
| Discover Cross Border Assessment Fee | 0.40000% | Assessed to all Discover transactions when the country codes of the merchant and the cardholder are different. |
| Interac Flash Interchange Fee – Tier 1 | $0.0200 | Assessed to all Interac Flash transactions for qualifying merchants. |
| Interac Flash Interchange Fee – Tier 2 | $0.0250 | Assessed to all Interac Flash transactions for qualifying merchants identified by Interac. |
| Interac Flash Interchange Fee – Tier 3 | $0.0350 | Standard interchange rate applied to all other merchants. |
| Interac Flash Interchange Fee – Tier 4 | $0.0550 | Standard interchange rate applied to ALL merchants for transactions above $100. |
| Interac Debit and/or Flash Switch Fee | Effective Nov 1, 2026 $0.0163 Current $0.0158 | Assessed to all Interac transactions. |
| Interac In-App/In-Browser Fee Acquirer Service Fee | $0.0282 | Assessed to all Interac In-App and In-Browser transactions. |
| Interac In-App/In-Browser Interchange Fee | 60 basis points capped at a transaction value of $300. Above transaction value of $300 there is a flat fee of $1.80. | Assessed to all Interac In-App and In-Browser transactions. |
The difference between the expected Interchange Rate versus the actual Interchange Rate incurred as explained by your sales representative.