NEWS HIGHLIGHT
RCC issues a merchant alert
The Retail Council of Canada has received numerous
complaints from merchants across the country who report calls from
telemarketers claiming to represent some or all processors, government
agencies and/or merchant
associations.
March 29, 2010 – The Retail Council of Canada has received numerous
complaints from merchants across the country who report calls from
telemarketers claiming to represent some or all processors, government
agencies and/or merchant
associations.
Merchants informed RCC that these telemarketers often request a faxed copy of their most recent processor
statement using some of the following reasons:
-
Offering to run an analysis to determine if you received their preferred credit card rates as a result
of POS security upgrades -
Calling from the Canadian Government and referring to new legislation around chip cards to check
that rate reductions are being passed down to you for debit and credit services - Claiming a mandate to oversee all processors and verifying that credit/debit fee savings have been
passed on to you -
Advising that as of a certain date a government mandated rate reduction should have been passed
on to you and requesting a copy of your statement for verification.
RCC has reached out to the credit card companies, processors/acquirers and the Competition Bureau to look
into this matter further and we thank our many members for bringing this issue to our attention.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR RETAIL BUSINESS
1. Don’t send confidential financial information to a company you do not know and trust
2. Record details of any suspicious telemarketing calls asking for your monthly processor statements
(specifically who they claim to represent, what they are offering, their company name and contact
information)
3. Report all details to Retail Council of Canada at rrussell@retailcouncil.org.
IF YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE BEEN A VICTIM OF MISREPRESENTATION
1. File a formal complaint with the Competition Bureau on line via this link (it only takes 2 minutes):
http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/
2. If you are a member, report to RCC or your association that you have filed a complaint with the Bureau.
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