Visa and MasterCard have agreed to lower the interchange fee they charge retailers in Canada for credit card transactions to under one per cent. The government announced a deal that will reduce interchange fees for in-store transactions by 27% on average, saving retailers about $1 billion over five years. Businesses with annual Visa sales volume below $300,000 will qualify for the lower fee, as will those who do less than $175,000 from MasterCard. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business called the deal a "significant accomplishment" but wishes that the timeline to implement the new fee structure could be moved up from its current target of fall 2024.