Interchange is the fee the card networks set and the card-issuing bank collects on every credit card sale. It's the largest single component of what you pay to accept cards — and it's the one component your processor doesn't control. Both Visa and Mastercard publish their Canadian tables in full. This guide translates them into numbers a merchant can use.
The rate tables, decoded per $100 sale
Mastercard Canada consumer credit, effective August 1, 2026 — what each rate costs on a $100 sale:
| Program | Core | World | World Elite | World Legend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Card-present (chip/tap) | $0.92 | $1.22 | $1.56 | $1.95 |
| Card-present, small business | $0.70 | $0.93 | $1.19 | $1.25 |
| Digital commerce (online) | $1.67 | $1.90 | $2.13 | $2.23 |
Visa Canada small-merchant program, card-present: Classic/Gold/Platinum $0.70, Infinite $0.89, Infinite Privilege $1.70 per $100. Card-not-present (tokenized): Classic $1.15, Infinite $1.40. And the number that should make every B2B merchant wince: standard Visa business credit runs $2.15 per $100 from October 24, 2026.
Read the shape of it: a basic card tapped in person costs $0.70–$0.92 per $100; the same $100 on a premium card online costs $2.13–$2.23. Your card mix — not your processor — is the biggest lever on your effective rate.
The small-merchant discount: the lever you're probably missing
Both networks run small-business programs that cut card-present interchange roughly 25%: Mastercard Core drops from 0.92% to 0.70%, Visa Classic from standard rates to 0.70%. On $50,000/month in card-present volume at the Core rate, that's the difference between $460/month and $350/month in interchange — $1,320 a year — for the same cards, the same sales, just the right program.
Qualifying merchants are typically enrolled through their acquirer, but eligibility isn't permanent: merchants can be removed from the program with or without notice, and if you're later found ineligible, the interchange savings can be reversed — your acquirer can bill you the difference. If your statements show small-business program rates, confirm with your acquirer that you actually qualify. A reversed discount arrives as a surprise debit, not a warning.
What changed in October 2026
Visa's October 24, 2026 update cut several small-merchant rates: Small Merchant Electronic for Core cards (Classic/Gold/Platinum) fell from 0.77% to 0.70%, Infinite from 0.99% to 0.89%; card-not-present Core moved 1.30% to 1.20% and Infinite 1.55% to 1.45%. But it wasn't a blanket cut — standard Visa business credit rose from 2.00% to 2.15%. Whether October saved you money depends entirely on your card mix: small merchants taking consumer cards in person won; businesses taking corporate cards online lost.
Why your statement never matches the table exactly
Three reasons. First, interchange is one of three layers — network assessments and your processor's markup sit on top, so the table rate is the floor, not the bill. Second, downgrades: a transaction only earns its best rate if it meets the program's criteria (settled on time, full data transmitted, card present as claimed). Miss a criterion and the same card bills at a higher "standard" rate. Third, blended pricing hides everything: on a flat 2.6% plan, you never see any of these numbers — you just pay the blend. Interchange-plus statements itemize them, which is the only way to check whether you're actually getting the small-business rates.
The pattern from several processor migrations holds: the merchants who overpay aren't the ones with bad rates — they're the ones who never looked at the rate table at all. These tables are public. Your card mix is knowable. The gap between them is negotiable.
A note on format: this is an explainer, not a procedure — there are no step-by-step actions because the question it answers is which setup fits your business, and that is what the comparisons above are for.
FAQ
What is the lowest credit card interchange rate in Canada?
For qualifying small merchants: 0.70% — Mastercard Small Business card-present Core and Visa Small Merchant card-present Classic/Gold/Platinum. That's $0.70 per $100 sale, before network assessments and processor markup.
Do online sales cost more in interchange?
Yes, substantially. Mastercard Digital Commerce runs 1.67%–2.23% versus 0.70%–1.95% card-present. Card-not-present is riskier for issuers, and the tables price that risk in.
How do I know if I'm getting small-business interchange rates?
Check your processing statement for program names (or ask your acquirer directly). On interchange-plus pricing the rates are itemized; on flat-rate pricing they're invisible. And confirm you actually qualify — ineligibility can mean the savings get reversed.