Bank of Montreal and Royal Bank recently joined forces with its merchant services divisions, opening up under joint venture company Moneris Solutions.

     Both Visa and MasterCard merchant services work under this umbrella company, and can provide rates as low as 1.65 per cent for MasterCard and two per cent for Visa. Members can use either Visa or MasterCard at Moneris, and are not obligated to have both credit companies under this one company.

     The current merchant discount rates are as follows: TD Bank – Visa: 1.75 per cent; Scotiabank – Visa: 1.85 per cent; Moneris – Visa: two per cent; Moneris – MC: 1.65 per cent. Efforts are ongoing to lower the Visa rate.