Visa Canada interchange rates October 2026: what merchants will actually pay

What changes on October 24

Visa lists October 24, 2026 as the central processing date. Your statement cycle can show the change on a different day. Four points matter. The small-merchant annual Visa-volume ceiling rises from CAD $300,000 to CAD $750,000. Several consumer credit categories fall. Online sellers get a new Digital Commerce Authentication Program for qualifying card-not-present transactions that include enhanced data. Standard Visa Business Credit interchange rises.

For eligible domestic transactions on Canadian-issued cards, Small Merchant Classic, Gold and Platinum in store moves from 0.77 percent to 0.70 percent. The same family card-not-present moves from 1.30 percent to 1.20 percent, and tokenized card-not-present from 1.25 percent to 1.15 percent. Small Merchant Visa Infinite in store moves from 0.99 percent to 0.89 percent. Standard Visa Business Credit moves from 2.00 percent to 2.15 percent. A rate applies only when its eligibility and technical conditions are met.

Why the $750,000 ceiling is the bigger change

A shop taking about CAD $40,000 in Visa payments a month is near CAD $480,000 a year. That was above the old CAD $300,000 ceiling and can sit under the new one. The threshold is Visa volume, not company revenue. Mastercard sales do not count toward it. Visa can look across acquirers, so two providers do not create two separate ceilings.

Crossing under CAD $750,000 does not by itself change a rate. Visa determines qualification, and the account has to be classified. Published acquirer guidance has also said merchants that surcharge Visa do not qualify for the small-merchant program. Premium cards, online transactions and other programs still have their own prices. 0.70 percent is not the cost of every Visa sale under that volume.

Outside the small-merchant program, a qualifying in-store Classic, Gold or Platinum sale could carry a regular electronic interchange of 1.25 percent. A newly eligible merchant may see 0.70 percent on that same kind of transaction. On CAD $100, the interchange portion moves from CAD $1.25 to CAD $0.70. That is interchange only.

Three illustrations, with the arithmetic shown

Hold card mix and volume constant for twelve months and assume every dollar qualifies for exactly one category. A retailer newly eligible on CAD $500,000 of in-store Classic, Gold or Platinum consumer credit moves from 1.25 percent to 0.70 percent. The interchange difference is CAD $500,000 times 0.55 percentage points, or CAD $2,750 less.

An online business already in the program, with CAD $250,000 of non-tokenized Classic, Gold or Platinum consumer credit, moves from 1.30 percent to 1.20 percent. That is CAD $250 less. A B2B supplier with CAD $100,000 qualifying as Standard Visa Business Credit moves from 2.00 percent to 2.15 percent, or CAD $150 more. None of these figures is a customer result, a refund of past fees, or a RapidCents price. The calculator on this page repeats the same formula with a volume you type.

What to check on the next statement

Mastercard’s small-business threshold is a different number. Do not copy the Visa ceiling onto Mastercard, and do not treat a Mastercard Core rate as the Visa 0.70 percent category. Industry programs for grocery, restaurants and fuel have their own rows. Level 2 and Level 3 rates depend on the commercial product. They are not a promise for ordinary Visa Business Credit.

Interchange-plus statements show the category. A flat or blended bill may move later, or not, depending on the provider. The Digital Commerce Authentication Program is not automatic through every gateway, and an incentive can be partly offset by an enhanced-data fee. Confirm both with the provider before you count the saving.