Visa interchange fees: what’s changed for small businesses since October 24, 2026

Good news for small merchants: since October 24, 2026, accepting Visa cards costs less for tens of thousands of Canadian businesses. Visa has lowered its interchange rates and, more importantly, opened its small merchant program to many more businesses. If you feel like card fees are eating into your margins a little more every month, this update is worth a couple of minutes of your time.

Let’s go over what’s changing, who benefits, the pitfalls to watch for and how to make sure the savings actually make it to your bank account.

Interchange fees: what are they, exactly?

Every time a customer pays with a credit card, part of the sale goes to fees. The biggest chunk is the interchange fee: a percentage of each transaction paid to the bank that issued the customer’s card. The card network (Visa or Mastercard) sets these rates, and your payment processor then adds its own margin and a few network fees on top.

In short, when interchange rates go down, the base of your fees goes down too. That is, as long as your processor passes the savings on to you… more on that later.

A quick look back

None of this came out of nowhere. In 2023, Ottawa reached agreements with Visa and Mastercard to ease the burden on small businesses. Since October 19, 2024, eligible small businesses have benefited from a weighted average interchange rate of 0.95% for in-store sales and a 10 basis point reduction on online transactions. According to the federal government, that adds up to a reduction of up to 27%.

The catch? The eligibility thresholds were fairly low: less than $300,000 in annual Visa card sales and less than $175,000 in Mastercard sales. Plenty of growing businesses found themselves just above the bar, with no access to the reduced rates.

What’s changed with Visa since October 24, 2026

This is where the October update gets interesting. Visa made three changes at once:

• The threshold jumps to $750,000. The small merchant program is now open to businesses processing up to $750,000 a year in Visa cards, up from $300,000.
• Rates are going down for all eligible businesses. Even merchants that already qualified for the program are seeing lower rates. For example, an in-person transaction on a Classic, Gold or Platinum card now drops to 0.70%.
• A new program for online sales. Visa’s Digital Commerce Authentication Program (DCAP) is arriving in Canada. By sending additional data on certain online transactions, a merchant gets a 10 basis point reduction, minus a 5 basis point fee, for net savings of about 5 basis points.

In practice, businesses with between $300,000 and $750,000 in Visa sales stand to gain the most: they go from a standard rate to a reduced rate overnight. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) calls it a significant win for many small businesses.

No gift from Mastercard (and a few caveats)

Before popping the champagne, a few nuances are in order. First, Mastercard has not expanded its own program: its threshold remains at $175,000. Second, not every card is following the trend. The standard rate for Visa Business credit cards went from 2% to 2.15%. If you serve a lot of business customers, the net effect could be smaller than expected.

Finally, the CFIB points out that while interchange fees paid to banks are going down, Visa and Mastercard are increasing their own share of processing fees. Among other things, Visa introduced new network access and brand usage fees in Canada, in effect since October 19, 2026. These fees go straight to the networks and can eat up part of your savings.

Why your statement might not show anything

This is the point many merchants overlook: the new interchange rates don’t automatically show up on your bill. It all depends on how your processor charges you.

With interchange-plus pricing, you pay the actual cost of interchange plus a fixed margin, so the reduction should show up fairly directly. With flat-rate or tiered pricing, nothing forces your processor to adjust your rate. It could easily keep the difference without you noticing.

Quick tip: pull out your September and November statements and compare them. If your Visa volume is under $750,000 a year and your effective rate hasn’t moved, that’s often a sign your payment solutions aren’t working for you. And don’t forget: eligibility is checked separately with each card network.

The right time to review your payment solutions

A fee reduction is only worth something if it actually reaches you. That’s exactly where DRS Payments comes in. Our team helps local merchants break down their statements, spot unnecessary fees and set up transparent payment solutions, so interchange reductions benefit your business rather than your processor.

In practical terms, DRS Payments can review your current statement to check whether you’re getting the new Visa rates, help you confirm your eligibility for the small merchant program and offer you modern, secure payment solutions, both in store and online. The goal is simple: make every transaction cost you as little as possible, without making things harder for your customers.

The bottom line

October 24, 2026 is real good news for Canadian small businesses: more businesses are eligible for Visa’s reduced rates, rates are lower for those that already were, and there’s a new program for online sales. But between the new network fees, the status quo at Mastercard and processors that don’t always pass along the savings, it pays to keep an eye out.

Want to know if your business is really benefiting from these new rates? Contact DRS Payments at 514-312-6714 or 1-833-371-9720 for a review of your fees. Let’s innovate together!