Guideline on Disclosure in Sales and Business Practices: Code of Conduct for the Payment Card Industry in Canada
Updated: March 2, 2026 (previous version)
Original publication date: February 13, 2013
Previous amendment date: November 13, 2016
Effective date: March 2, 2026
I. Introduction
1. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) developed this Guideline on Disclosure in Sales and Business Practices (the Guideline) to set out its expectations with respect to the obligations of Payment Card Network Operators (PCNOs) and their Acquirers and Downstream Participants to disclose information in accordance with Policy Element 1 of the Code of Conduct for the Payment Card Industry in Canada (the Code).
2. In 2010, the Government of Canada introduced the Code, formerly the Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry in Canada, to promote greater transparency for businesses and card holders who use credit cards, prepaid cards and/or debit cards, and to enhance fairness, clarity and choice within the payment card industry.
3. The 2024 revisions of the Code provide further clarity and precision around certain requirements and expectations.
4. PCNOs operating in Canada that adopt the Code must:
4.1. abide by its requirements and require compliance by their participantsFootnote 1 (Acquirers are responsible for the compliance of their Downstream Participants); and
4.2. incorporate the Code, in its entirety, into the contracts they use with their participants or into their governing rules and regulation.
5. FCAC expects PCNOs to incorporate related FCAC guidance into the contracts they use with their participants or into their governing rules and regulations.
6. This Guideline should be read in conjunction with the Code and all applicable legislation, regulations and FCAC guidance.
II. Key principles
7. FCAC expects PCNOs that adopt the Code to establish and maintain policies and procedures that ensure the sales and business practices of their Acquirers and Downstream Participants fully comply with the Code and are executed in a manner that reflects the principles outlined in the Code and this Guideline.
8. FCAC expects that PCNOs and their Acquirers and Downstream Participants are guided by the following principles:
Effectiveness
Acquirers and Downstream Participants’ sales and business practices are comprehensive, fair, consistent and support compliance with the disclosure requirements in the Code.
Transparency
Acquirers and Downstream Participants’ sales and business practices are clear, simple and non-misleading.
Timeliness
Any Code-related complaints made by merchants about sales and business practices are addressed in a timely manner.
III. Effectiveness
9. FCAC expects PCNOs to work directly with their Acquirers and Downstream Participants to ensure that merchants receive clear, consistent and complete information about their agreements, related documentsFootnote 2 and monthly statements. This includes:
9.1. ensuring consistent terminologyFootnote 3 and complete disclosures across all materials—such as card processing applications, quotes, proposals, merchant agreements and monthly statements—particularly for fees and rates;
9.2. honouring advertised and promised rates and fees to merchants;
9.3. not unilaterally altering or modifying agreements with merchants without Code-compliant notice(s); and
9.4. providing merchants with complete copies of their agreements and any other document referred to within the agreement (such as providing a copy of applicable transaction and processing fees and rates at the time agreements are entered into).
IV. Transparency
10. FCAC expects PCNOs to collaborate with their Acquirers and Downstream Participants to ensure that all disclosures are consistent with FCAC’s Clear language and presentation principles and guidelines for the industry (CG-3).
11. FCAC expects PCNOs to work directly with their Acquirers and Downstream Participants to ensure that all merchant disclosures, notices and communications required under the Code—whether in print or digital format—are clear, simple and non-misleading.
12. FCAC expects PCNOs to work directly with their Acquirers and Downstream Participants to ensure that their sales and business practices are presented in a clear, non-misleading manner and accurately represent the terms of merchant agreements, card processing applications, quotes and proposals.
13. To increase merchants’ understanding of payment processing and enhance transparency, FCAC expects PCNOs to ensure that their Acquirers and Downstream Participants adhere to the Disclosures and Communications section of the Code by making information on payment processing (such as glossaries and descriptions of products, services and dispute resolution processes) easily available on their websites.
V. Timeliness
14. FCAC expects PCNOs to work directly with their Acquirers and Downstream Participants to ensure they establish and implement complaint-handling processes to:
14.1. address merchants’ Code-related complaints about sales and business practices within the periods prescribed by the Code;
14.2. ensure that merchants are notified when the periods prescribed by the Code will not be met;
14.3. promptly send information to the merchant once the complaint has been investigated and addressed; and
14.4. when applicable, make appropriate remedies for merchants available in a timely manner, including amending or voiding agreements that were entered into in violation of the disclosure requirements provided for in the Code.
VI. Administrative requirements
15. FCAC expects PCNOs to work directly with their Acquirers and Downstream Participants to regularly review existing processes to ensure compliance with the Code.
16. PCNOs must demonstrate, upon request from FCAC, their compliance with the Code and with the expectations set out within this Guideline by providing FCAC with the supporting documentation, reports and any other information that FCAC may require.Footnote 4
VII. Miscellaneous
17. Questions relating to this Guideline should be sent
a) by email to compliance@fcac-acfc.gc.ca
or
b) by mail to:
Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
Attention: Deputy Commissioner, Supervision and Enforcement Branch
427 Laurier Ave West, 5th Floor
Ottawa, ON K1R 7Y2