Visa Canada Small Merchant Rates: October 2026 Change

What Visa announced

In a notice dated September 4, 2026, Visa Canada said it will expand the Small Merchant Interchange Program by raising the maximum annual Visa volume from CAD 300,000 to CAD 750,000, and lower several small merchant rates for domestic consumer credit cards. Both changes are effective October 24, 2026. The program started in October 2024 under the federal government's agreements with Visa and Mastercard to lower card fees for small businesses. This is Visa's own change; the notice does not cover Mastercard, which has its own program and threshold.

The new small merchant rates

The table compares the small merchant rates in Visa Canada's current schedule with the rates in its upcoming-changes notice, for the most common consumer credit cards. Visa Infinite+ and other categories have their own rates in the notice.

Interchange is not your rate

Visa's own schedule says merchants do not pay interchange directly; they pay a merchant discount fee to their acquirer, which can bundle many services. Interchange goes to the bank that issued the card. Your processor adds network fees and its own markup. So a lower interchange rate lowers your cost only if your processor passes it on. Under the Code of Conduct for the Payment Card Industry in Canada, processors must tell you if they will not pass on, in full, applicable domestic network core fee reductions, according to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.

Who might now qualify

Businesses with annual Visa volume between CAD 300,000 and CAD 750,000 were outside the program and may now fall inside it. That covers many busy restaurants, retailers, clinics and trades. The threshold is based on Visa volume only, not your total card sales. Your processor applies the program, so ask whether your account has been flagged as eligible from October 24.

What to check

1. Add up your Visa sales for the last 12 months, separately from Mastercard and debit. 2. Find out how you are priced. On interchange-plus pricing the interchange line is shown separately, so the drop should be visible. On a flat or blended rate, the cost under your rate can fall while your rate stays the same. 3. Ask your processor in writing whether your account qualifies and whether the October 24 change will be passed through. 4. Compare your November statement, which covers October, with September: effective rate, interchange lines and any new fees. 5. Keep the written answers and your statements.

What changes for multi-location and enterprise merchants

Larger businesses above CAD 750,000 in annual Visa volume stay outside the small merchant program, so these rates do not apply. Visa's notice also adds an optional Digital Commerce Authentication Program for qualifying card-not-present transactions when merchants provide enhanced transaction data, and it lists a business credit Standard rate of 2.15% from the same date, where the current schedule shows 2.00%. If you run several locations or sell online at volume, ask your processor how each change affects your card mix, review effective rate by location and channel, and check how your contract passes network changes through. A franchise or group with separate merchant accounts per location should check eligibility account by account.