As a Partner considering accepting merchants based in Canada, you must meet the basic compliance requirements for the Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry in Canada (referred to as the “Code”).
To meet these requirements you must:
Create an online complaint intake form for your merchants/sub-merchants.
Provide monthly merchant statements to your merchants/sub-merchants.
What is a Complaint?
A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction with a product, service, policy, or an employee related to the Platform (except those made by cardholders who are also employees of your company).
General customer service complaints are your responsibility, while Payrix is responsible for managing and resolving Code-Related Complaints.
What is a Code-Related Complaint?
It is important to distinguish between customer communications that you should resolve, versus those that you should forward to Payrix for resolution.
Code-Related Complaints – refer to issues or conduct identified with the platform that merchant believes is contrary to the Code.
If you are ever unsure, please forward the customer inquiry to Payrix Support and Payrix can determine whether the communication constitutes a complaint.
Online Complaint Intake Process
Step 1: Setting up your Online Complaint Intake Form
An online complaint intake form is required for your merchants/sub-merchants to submit potential Code-Related Complaints with the service or platform.
Create your online intake form for your merchants to submit the information required in Step 2.
Step 2: Identifying a Code-Related Complaint
Using the information above, identify whether the complaint submitted is a general customer service complaint or a Code-Related Complaint.
After identifying that the complaint is a Code-Related Complaint, send an acknowledgment email to your merchant/sub-merchant notifying them that their complaint has been received and escalated to Payrix Support.
Sample Acknowledgement Email
Dear (Merchant Contact Name),
We are reaching out to let you know that we have received your issue/complaint made on (date complaint made) regarding our billing integration services. Upon our initial review of your issue/complaint, we have determined that it pertains to our billing integration partner Payrix and qualifies as a Code-related issue/complaint as defined by the Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry in Canada.
As such, we have escalated your issue/complaint to Payrix for investigation and resolution. For additional information on Payrix’s Code Complaints Handling process or if you have questions regarding your issue/complaint, please visit .
Further communication regarding your complaint/issue will come directly from Payrix.
Thank you for contacting us.
Step 3: Submit Code-Related Complaints to Payrix
When a Code-Related Complaint is identified, it must be submitted to Payrix to manage any potential Code violations. All required information must be provided so that Payrix can properly investigate the matter.
If you have a complaint about a particular element of the Code, submit your complaint to Payrix Support with the following required information:
Your Name
Business Name on your Payrix Account
Merchant ID (MID) Number
Business Address (with territory specified)
Name and Email Address of your Payrix Account Administrator
A General Summary of your Complaint (with any applicable supporting documents)
You can provide them upon the initial response from our Support team or add a file attachment section to your Complaint Intake Form
One or More Complaint Element Codes related to the Complaint
Per the Code, we will acknowledge your request within 5 days of receipt and either resolve the complaint within 90 days or provide you information explaining why the complaint has not been resolved within that period.
Step 4: Resolution or Escalation
If your complaint has not been resolved after following the above process, you have the right to refer your complaint to the following.
Worldpay (Processor) | |
Peoples Trust Company (Acquirer) | |
Visa Canada |
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Mastercard Canada |
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American Express Canada |
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Financial Consumer Agency of Canada |
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Code-Related Complaints
Amendments made in April 2015 to the Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry, Element 13, now state that payment card network rules require merchants to have access to a clear dispute resolution process.
This provides relevant information for an investigation and a timely response to Code-Related Complaints.
As Payrix Partner serving Canadian merchants, you will be the first point of contact for your merchants/sub-merchants.
Escalate the Code-Related Complaints to Payrix through our online support site.
Payrix will conduct an investigation, remediation if there is an error, and notify the merchant/sub-merchant of our investigation response within the required 90 days' time frame since receipt of a complaint.
See Complaint Element Codes for a full description of each Element Code.
Below is a quick summary of relevant Complaint Element Codes:
Element | Summary |
Element 1* | Transparency and Disclosure Element |
Element 2* | Notice of fee increase or new fee Element |
Element 3 | Contract Cancellation |
Element 4 | No Obligation Acceptance |
Element 5 | Payment Method Discount Element |
Element 10 | Negative Option Acceptance |
Element 11 | Contactless Payments |
Element 12 | Renewal and Cancellation Disclosure |
Element 13* | Complaint Handling Process |
*=Required by Partner & Payrix
Providing Monthly Merchant Statements
As a part of Partners serving Canadian Merchants, it is also your responsibility to provide each merchant with a monthly statement showing the following information:
Card Type* - MasterCard Credit, Visa Credit, MasterCard Debit, Visa Debit, American Express, or Discover
Number of Sales*
Gross Sales ($)*
Service Rate (%)* - Either a flat rate charged or applicable interchange rates for each card type.
Rate Fee (Rate * Gross Sale ($))*
Per Transaction Fee ($X.XX * Number of Sales ($))*
Total Fees (Rate Fee + Transaction Fee ($))
Effective Merchant Discount Rate (Total Fees/Gross Sales (%))*
Required = *
It is recommended that you provide this information in a .CSV format so that your Merchants can easily view the information in Excel.
Please download the example below for a sample of what your Monthly Merchant Statement information should look like: