The Canadian government has pledged to target the country’s high credit card fees in the 2014 budget.
In the speech that accompanied the budget, finance minister Jim Flaherty said he was "standing up for hard-working families trying to make ends meet".
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On the subject of credit cards the budget said: "Canada has among the highest credit card acceptance costs in the world.
"In 2013, the Competition Tribunal found that certain of Visa’s and MasterCard’s network rules have an adverse affect on competition, which results in higher costs to merchants.
"In light of this finding, the Government will work with stakeholders to promote fair and transparent practices and to help lower credit card acceptance costs for merchants, while encouraging merchants to lower prices to consumers."
Flaherty also spoke about bill payments, saying the government would ban the practice of charging for paper bills.
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By GlobalData"We will prohibit the pay-to-pay practice that charges consumers for paper bills — including printed credit card statements" he told the Canadian parliament.
The budget also said the government would strengthen the country’s code of conduct for the credit and debit card industry.
It said: "The Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry in Canada was created in 2010 to promote merchant choice, transparency and disclosure, and fairness in the credit card market.
"To further improve business practices, the Government intends to strengthen the Code of Conduct, in consultation with stakeholders".
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