Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Telus Corp. is trying to add a 1.5 per cent processing fee for customers who use a credit card after a class action settlement cleared the way for merchants to add the surcharge starting this fall.
In a letter to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the telecom giant says the surcharge is intended “to cover the processing costs that credit card payments incur.” The document, which is dated Monday, seeks permission from the regulatory body to add the fee to its terms of service.
Telus said in a statement Friday that the average cost each month will be about $2 per customer, and that they can avoid the fees by selecting another bill payment option, such as debit payments or one-time bank payments.
The Vancouver-based company will be free to add the surcharge starting in October thanks to a class action settlement over the fees charged, and restrictions set, by banks and credit card companies. The settlement was reached in 2017 but took time to wind through provincial approvals.
The settlement included $188 million in payouts from banks and credit cards, of which about $131 million is available to be paid out to Canadian merchants, as well as a the removal of the surcharge restriction from Visa and Mastercard.
The removal of the restriction allows merchants to potentially recoup processing fees for credit cards that range from as low as around one per cent for basic cards to nearly three per cent for cards that offer rewards such as cash back or loyalty points.
Merchants who want to add a fee for credit cards have to display signage that they have a surcharge, as well as have the fee explicitly shown on the receipt. Mastercard has set a maximum cap of 2.4 per cent for surcharges that merchants can charge.
The focus on credit card fees has climbed during the pandemic, as more people use credit cards for purchases online, and even small, in-store buys like a drink and a snack that would previously have been made with cash.
Few smaller retailers however, are expected to add the charge, said Dan Kelly, chief executive of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
“We've been fighting for the power to surcharge really to ensure that the smaller merchants have the ability to negotiate better pricing. But I've never felt that this is a power that most merchants would take up.”
He said it's too much of a risk for merchants to lose business in competitive markets, but that's likely less of a concern for some bigger companies.
“I think there is likely to be some take-up and interest on surcharging among oligopolies and monopolies, and obviously the telecom industry would certainly (fall) in that category.”
Kelly said he's concerned that the move by Telus might prompt some provinces to impose restrictions on surcharge, as Quebec has already done. Telus said the fee will not apply in Quebec or to customers of its Koodo subsidiary.
Smaller businesses have also been hoping to see relief on credit card processing fees, known as interchange fees, from promises from the federal government. The Liberals in 2019 promised to remove interchange fees on the sales tax portion of receipts and made commitment to reduced fees in its 2021 budget, but as of the 2022 budget the government said it was still in “consultations with stakeholders on solutions to lower the cost of fees for merchants.”
Federal governments have previously secured reductions from credit card companies. In November 2014, Visa and MasterCard voluntarily agreed to reduce their annual average effective fees to 1.5 per cent over five years -- a period that began in April 2015. The companies also agreed to reduce average fees to 1.4 per cent starting in 2020, which when announced in 2018 the government said it expected the reduction to save small and medium-sized businesses save a total of $250 million per year.
Credit card fees in the European Union, meanwhile, are capped at 0.3 per cent with the aim of retailers' average costs are not higher for cards than for cash payments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 12, 2022
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.