Debit cards - merchant surcharges
 

I hope this is the appropriate forum for this question.

As many of us are aware, it goes against a merchant's contract with Visa or Mastercard to add a surcharge to a purchase or to impose a minimum purchase amount on customers when the customer is paying with a credit card.

Do the same "rules" apply between merchants and the Canadian banks with respect to DEBIT card purchases? I suspect not, but I'm wondering if anyone knows for sure.

This is strictly a question about purchases in Canada with Canadian debit cards.

No they do not. In the same way a vendor can charge you $2 to use their 'white box' ATM, a vendor can charge you to pay by interac.

Thanks gglave.