title: Canada — Merchant Acquiring & Risk | World Payments Monitor canonical: https://payments.gi/jurisdictions/canada/w8/ publisher: Asymmetric Intelligence ### W8 Merchant Acquiring & Risk 1 gap Probable confirmed 2026-06-27 Acquiring is governed commercially by the revised Code of Conduct for the Payment Card Industry (processor switching, complaint timelines) and scheme rules. Merchant surcharging is permitted up to a cap following the class-action settlement. Direct local acquiring is expanding (Nuvei went live as a direct acquirer in Canada in June 2025). Private-ABM acquirers were newly brought into the FINTRAC/PCMLTFA reporting-entity regime effective October 1, 2025. Open gap — wpm-int-3 US state-level divergence vector not actively searched this cycle due to budget constraints._This Sentinel-feed gap should be cross-checked against FIM's parallel CA output._ Standing sub-brief · as of 27 June 2026 161 words · last cycle 2026-06-27 #### Merchant Acquiring & Risk The acquiring perimeter is expanding on both regulatory and commercial fronts. Effective October 1, 2025, entities providing acquirer services for private ABMs must register as MSBs, implement a compliance program, verify client identities, maintain records and report prescribed transactions, addressing Cullen Commission (2022) cash-laundering risks. This brings a previously under-supervised acquiring sub-segment — private ATMs — into the PCMLTFA reporting-entity perimeter, with the revised Code of Conduct (October 30, 2024) governing processor switching and complaint timelines for acquirers. Commercially, Nuvei went live as a direct payment acquirer in Canada on June 30, 2025, allowing Canadian businesses to process domestic transactions locally without third-party processors, improving approval rates and interchange-cost predictability — a dated entry of clear commercial significance. #### Outlook This is a methodology-flagged under-indexed area: the private-ABM PCMLTFA expansion is evidenced but thinly sourced (Tier-2 law-firm only), and acquirer stress, chargeback dynamics and high-risk MCC exposure in Canada are under-covered. Prioritise deeper sourcing on the next refresh. no periodic updates on record for this sub-brief ** Sources and findings (3)** 1. T1 [https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2024/10/government-reduces-credit-card-fees-by-27-per-cent-for-small-business-owners.html](https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2024/10/government-reduces-credit-card-fees-by-27-per-cent-for-small-business-owners.html) retrieved 2026-06-27 2. T2 [https://www.mccarthy.ca/en/insights/blogs/techlex/reminder-new-fintrac-requirements-effective-october-1-2025](https://www.mccarthy.ca/en/insights/blogs/techlex/reminder-new-fintrac-requirements-effective-october-1-2025) retrieved 2026-06-27 3. T3 [https://www.pymnts.com/news/acquiring/2025/nuvei-expands-acquiring-capabilities-to-home-country-of-canada/](https://www.pymnts.com/news/acquiring/2025/nuvei-expands-acquiring-capabilities-to-home-country-of-canada/) retrieved 2026-06-27