The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that the federal government announced the details of a long-promised reduction in the credit-card transaction fees that small businesses pay, but only the tiniest businesses will likely see any benefit. The Globe's Chris Hannay writes that the Liberals have promised since the 2019 election to force credit-card companies and banks to charge lower transaction fees to businesses when they take customers' payments. Last fall, the feds even threatened the financial industry with new regulation to get a deal. In the 2023 budget tabled in April, Ottawa said a deal with Visa and Mastercard was coming, but the details were not released until Thursday. Businesses that receive less than $300,000 in annual revenue through Visa credit cards and less than $175,000 in annual revenue from Mastercard customers will qualify for the reductions. Those businesses will see their average interchange fees capped at 0.95 per cent of in-store purchases and reduced by 10 basis points for on-line purchases. The average interchange rate for all businesses in Canada is 1.4 per cent. The politics are challenging because banks use the revenue from interchange fees to fund credit-card reward programs.