What Rights Do Canadian Businesses Have When Payment Processing Fees Change?
Under Canada’s Code of Conduct for the Payment Card Industry, Canadian businesses have the right to advance notice of certain changes to their payment processing fees.
For qualifying changes, processors must generally provide 30 to 60 calendar days’ notice, explaining which fees are changing and how those changes will affect the business in question.
Merchants may also have the right to cancel their processing agreement without penalty within 70 calendar days after a qualifying change takes effect.
However, these protections don’t apply to every type of fee or pricing adjustment.
Key Takeaways:
- Not every fee change requires notification under the Code.
- The required notification period is generally 30 to 60 calendar days.
- Qualifying changes may allow merchants to cancel their agreements without penalty.
- Reviewing processing statements monthly can help you identify changes and protect your rights.
- Certain fee increases, new fees, and reductions that aren’t fully passed on require advance notice.
Have you ever checked your payment processing statement and wondered why the fees were different from what you saw on your last statement?
It’s easy to focus on things like deposits and sales volumes while overlooking processing fees that can add up, especially when your business processes thousands of dollars in card payments every month.
In any case, Canadian merchants are entitled to specific protections when certain payment processing fees change, including advance notice, clear explanations, and sometimes penalty-free cancellation.
The important detail is that these rules depend on which fee changes and why.
And as a business owner, knowing this stuff is incredibly important.
Because understanding that distinction can help you spot unexpected costs, be aware of your rights in relation to those costs, and know when you have grounds to question them.
What’s Included in Your Payment Processing Fees?
Payment processing fees cover several charges for accepting debit and credit cards.
However, they don’t all come from the same organization, and knowing which company sets the price of each fee can help you understand whether a notice is required and who should explain the change.
Interchange Fees
Interchange is a fee associated with a card transaction that generally goes to the financial institution that issued the customer’s card. These fees vary based on the card and transaction type that’s being processed.
Card networks like Visa and Mastercard establish interchange rate structures, and your processor collects them as part of your overall monthly bill.
Card-Network Fees
Payment card networks also establish charges for using their networks, and these are typically called network assessment fees or network fees.
These are separate from interchange. But depending on your statement format, the two types of charges may appear close together, so it’s worth comparing their descriptions and rates carefully.
Processor Fees and Markups
Your payment processor or acquiring provider charges for handling transactions and providing payment acceptance services. Depending on your pricing plan, this might appear as a percentage markup, a per-transaction amount, or part of a blended rate.
Under the Code, changing a markup is a processor fee change, even when that markup applies to a network fee.
However, a flat-rate plan may bundle several of these costs into one transaction rate, which makes the original source less obvious.
Other Service Charges
Your statement or agreement may also include fees for terminal rental, monthly account charges, optional services, or fees associated with avoidable non-compliance.
It’s important to note that the Code’s fee-change notice and cancellation protections don’t automatically cover optional services, add-ons, or avoidable penalties, so make sure to carefully check your agreement.
Why Do Payment Processing Fees Change?
Card networks adjust transaction rates and core fees, but processors can also change their own pricing or introduce new fees.
In October 2026, for example, Visa changed interchange rates for qualifying Canadian businesses.
But changes announced by a network don’t necessarily affect every merchant equally. Your actual costs depend on the types of transactions you process and whether your processor actually passes rate adjustments on to its customers.
There’s also another possibility, as your total fees may rise even though none of your contracted rates changed.
Because if customers start using more premium credit cards, or your transaction mix shifts, then the overall cost of accepting payments can change.
The important question here is what caused the difference, as the same increase on a statement can have very different causes.
When Must Canadian Businesses Be Notified of Fee Changes?
The Code of Conduct for the Payment Card Industry in Canada sets out merchant protections for certain changes to card processing fees.
Under the current Code, your acquirer or payment processor must generally give you notice between 30 and 60 calendar days before the effective date when any of these changes apply to your business:
- A new processor fee is introduced and passed on to you.
- An existing processor fee increases, and the increase is passed on to you in whole or in part.
- An applicable domestic card-network core fee increases, or a new one is introduced, with some or all of that cost passed on to you.
- An applicable domestic card-network core fee decreases, but your provider does not pass the full benefit of that reduction on to you.
At the same time, fee reductions can trigger this kind of notice, too.
And if a qualifying network fee falls but your provider doesn’t fully pass that on to you, then you must be notified.
However, you shouldn’t assume that lower published network rates will automatically translate into an equal reduction on your monthly bill.
In this context, the term applicable means that the fee affects your transactions, so a reduction for an unrelated card category doesn’t count.
When Is Advance Notice Not Required?
Not every fee adjustment will require your processor to provide advance notice.
For example, the Code doesn’t require this particular fee-change notice when a pricing plan automatically passes the full benefit of an applicable network core-fee reduction on to the merchant. Nor is notice required when a provider absorbs a network increase instead of charging it to you.
An increase already set out in your agreement under a predetermined schedule is another exception. This could include a rate that changes when a promotional period ends or when your business reaches a specified sales volume.
Optional services and avoidable penalties also have separate terms, and the 30-to-60-day rule doesn’t cover every charge.
What Should a Required Notice Tell You?
If it’s required, a notice must identify old and new amounts, who changed the fee, and how much of that fee change will be passed on to you.
It must also explain your applicable right to exit the agreement without penalty, including the date that the 70-day decision period ends.
If your agreement has no fixed term or cancellation penalty, the notice must instead remind you of your right to leave without penalty at any time.
The Code requires these communications to be clear, simple, and non-misleading.
Where Should You Look for Fee-Change Notices?
Merchants may overlook fee announcements because they’re focused on reconciling sales rather than reading every page of their statement.
“They’ll log in and look at their volume, but they won’t actually read the statement,” said Steven Cumiskey, Lucid Payments’ Vice President of Operations.
He recommends checking the first and last pages carefully, as typically, he’s seen this kind of notice showing up on the bottom of page one or on the very last page, sometimes in small print.
But keep in mind that this is a practical tip, not a rule about where notices must appear. The Code does not prescribe a particular page of a statement for fee-change announcements.
It requires qualifying notices to communicate the necessary information clearly, but it doesn’t say they must appear on page one, the final page or even within the monthly statement itself.
So, make sure to check the full statement and any email, mail, or online account messages.
And if you’re unsure how this works, ask how your processor sends notices.
Can You Cancel Your Processing Agreement When Fees Change?
Yes, in qualifying circumstances, you can do this.
The Code gives Canadian merchants the right to cancel card processing agreements without penalty when certain fees increase, new fees are passed on, or applicable domestic network core-fee reductions are not passed on to customers in full.
When you receive the required advance notice, you have 70 calendar days after the fee change takes effect to notify your provider that you intend to exit your agreement.
And remember, the clock starts on the effective date, not when the notice arrives.
So, don’t forget to keep the notice and mark the deadline as soon as you receive it because waiting for another billing cycle could leave you with less time to review your options.
If the provider fails to give the required 30-to-60-day advance notice, the Code says you may cancel without penalty at any time for that qualifying change.
But the special cancellation right excludes increases following a predetermined schedule in your agreement.
In any case, after you provide notice of your intent to cancel, your provider must supply the necessary cancellation documents within five business days.
It’s also important to mention that under the Code, the requested cancellation date must be at least 30 calendar days after you submit the required documents, unless both sides agree to an earlier date.
How Often Should You Review Your Processing Statements?
A monthly review is the safest habit.
The Code requires your provider to give you access to processing information at least once a month. Depending on your pricing model, that includes transaction volume, fees and rates, or a breakdown of charges outside your blended transaction rate.
And because the cancellation window for qualifying fee changes lasts 70 calendar days after the effective date, reviewing your statement less often than that could mean finding out too late.
So, you should set aside time each month to check:
- Whether any fee-change notice or account message has arrived
- Whether the rates match the pricing disclosures and agreement you have on file
- Whether a new line item has appeared or an existing service charge has changed
- Whether interchange, network, or processor charges differ from the previous statement
- Whether the total cost increased because your rates changed or because your card mix and sales volume changed
What If a Fee Changes Without a Clear Explanation?
If this happens, you should start by asking your processor to identify the charge, who set it, and when it took effect. Request the relevant notice, your current fee disclosures, and an explanation of how the amount was calculated.
You can also request updated fee tables associated with your agreement.
At any rate, you should keep copies of your statements, notices, and correspondence, and if you believe a Code-protected fee change was handled improperly, use the provider’s formal complaint process.
The Code requires a clear complaints procedure, with merchant complaints having to be acknowledged within five business days and addressed within 20 business days.
And if the explanation you receive is unsatisfactory, ask how the complaint can be escalated through the relevant payment card network’s process.
What This Means for Your Business
A higher monthly processing bill doesn’t always mean a fee has changed.
Your transaction mix might have shifted, or your processor or card network might have adjusted a rate. So, it’s crucial to understand the rules related to this stuff, because the Code’s notice and cancellation protections apply to specific changes.
Luckily, a monthly review can help you spot any inconsistencies.
But you’ve got to ensure you read each page and keep your agreements handy for comparison.
What’s more, if a fee is unfamiliar, you should request an explanation before an applicable cancellation window closes.
All things considered, payment processing is an ongoing business expense.
But understanding how your fees are set and knowing your rights when they change makes it easier to manage those costs with confidence.
You deserve to know exactly what you’re paying for when payment processing fees change.
If you’ve noticed unexpected charges or aren’t sure whether your processor has properly explained a fee change, contact Lucid Payments to review your processing costs and discuss your options.
