On August 10, BMO and RBC announced the sale of Moneris to U.S. technology investment firm Francisco Partners for approximately C$2 billion.
The transaction still requires regulatory approval, but the message is clear: Canada’s largest payment processor is changing ownership. Moneris currently supports more than 325,000 points of commerce and represents approximately one in three transactions in Canada.
And that raises a question I think every Moneris merchant should be asking:
What happens to pricing when ownership changes?
This isn’t an accusation that Moneris will raise fees. It’s a reminder that ownership changes can change incentives, and in payments, those incentives can show up on your statement.
A private investment firm has a different mandate than a bank-owned business. Growth, efficiency and returns to investors matter. With a large, established merchant base, even small changes to pricing can have a meaningful impact.
And payments are particularly susceptible to this because merchants don’t always notice when costs change.
A fee gets renamed.
A rate gets adjusted.
A new authorization or network fee appears.
A small percentage increase gets buried among dozens of line items.
You may not notice it month to month. But over a year, it can add up to thousands of dollars.
We’ve already seen how ownership changes and consolidation can coincide with significant pricing changes elsewhere in the industry.
Heartland is a good example of why merchants should be paying attention. Heartland is now Global Payments, with the Heartland brand officially retired. And a recent BBB complaint from a Heartland merchant alleges that a monthly “Service & Regulatory Mandate” fee increased from $2,421 to $6,154, a 154% increase. That’s one merchant’s complaint, not evidence that every Heartland account experienced the same increase, but it is exactly the kind of change worth watching.
So if you’re a Moneris merchant, pay attention.
Pull your statements. Compare your effective rate. Look for new fees, renamed fees and charges that weren’t on your statements six or twelve months ago.
We can analyze your statements, identify what changed and explain what you’re actually paying.
We are payments experts. Reach out to us to discuss what you’re paying and where there may be opportunities to save.