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Canadian retailers say hidden credit card fees are soaring out of control and it’s time the candidates in the federal election made it a campaign issue.

Canadian consumers are already paying $4.5 billion a year in hidden credit card fees and will soon be paying more, the Retail Council of Canada warned today.

"We’re one of the few countries in the world where the government hasn’t seriously looked at this and decided to regulate," said retail council president Diane Brisebois.

The council has the support of dozens of other major retail organizations representing supermarkets, restaurants, convenience stores and hotels.

At issue are so-called "interchange" fees, the amount the stores pay to the credit card companies to allow consumers to use their cards in the store.

Such fees are invisible to the consumer but can cost the retailer on average 2 per cent of the value of each transaction, Brisebois explained free credit report online.

The fees have already risen four times this year and another increase in scheduled for October, she said.

Retailers around the world consider unregulated card fees their number one issue, especially now that some credit card companies are moving into the debit card business, raising the cost of handling those cards, too, Brisebois said.

Canadian retailers have little room to raise prices to cover such fees in the current highly competitive market, she said.

The council hopes to make card fee regulation an election issue by urging its members to call or write all the candidates.

Canada has 227,000 retailers.

The council has created a website, www.stopstickingittous.com, where merchants and consumers can learn more about the issue.

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Filed under: economics by TheDoor