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Canada adopted the Department of Finance’s Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Industry in Canada in 2010. As part of this Code of Conduct, merchants and cardholders can submit inquiries or complaints relating to the elements of the Code of Conduct. To ensure that Canada’s payment system continues to be innovative, secure and reliable for all the payment industry members, we welcome your feedback.

Mastercard supports the revisions to the Code of Conduct announced by the Government of Canada. Mastercard believes the revisions will make the payments industry more transparent while maintaining the value and benefit of new payment technologies to merchants. 

Merchants 
If you are a merchant or prospective merchant and your question is related to your contract or statement with your acquirer or payment processor, we ask that you first contact the acquirer or processor. Please refer to your statement for contact information.

If after contacting your acquirer or processor you feel your inquiry has not been resolved to your satisfaction, we invite you to fill out a Code of Conduct inquiries form.

Mastercard Code of Conduct complaint handling procedure summary for merchants

If you have a complaint pertaining to the Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry, you may file a complaint through a variety of channels:

  • our website 
  • by email, or
  • by mail at Mastercard Canada 600-121 Bloor St. E, Toronto, ON M4W 3M5 (Attn. Code of Conduct Compliance).

Please visit the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada’s website for more information on merchant rights under the Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry in Canada.

Following receipt of your complaint, we will:

  • Acknowledge receipt of your complaint within five (5) business days.
  • Provide our final decision in writing within forty-five (45) days of receiving the merchant complaint, along with:
    • A summary of the complaint;
    • The final result of the investigation;
    • Explanation of the final decision; and
    • Information on how to further escalate your complaint in the event of an unsatisfactory outcome.

If we cannot provide a response to you within 45 days for PCNOs, you will be informed of the delay, reason for the delay and the expected response time.

To assist us in reviewing your complaint, please provide the following, where applicable:

  • a summary of your concerns
  • details, such as the name of the person at the acquirer or processor you were dealing with, the date the concern occurred, date spoken to payment network, acquirer or representative
  • copies of any supporting documentation (e.g., agreements, statements, correspondence from acquirer or payment card network)

Nothing restricts you from directly filing a complaint with the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) to investigate non-compliance with the Code. FCAC can be reached via:

Phone: 1-866-461-3222
Email: info@fcac-acfc.gc.ca
Mail: Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, 6th Floor, Enterprise Building, 427 Laurier Ave. West, Ottawa, ON K1R 1B9

Please note that the information being submitted may be shared with your PCNO, acquirer, processor or financial institution in order to assist us in answering your concerns. FCAC is not a dispute-resolution agency for consumers in their individual dealings with payment card network operators or acquirers.