The Financial Post reports in its Thursday edition that the government is questioning whether Interac's e-transfer service is anti-competitive, and politicians have asked the Competition Bureau to step in and investigate. The Post's Jane Switzer writes that at the heart of the issue is whether Interac's governance and fee structure unfairly benefits Canada's large financial institutions and disadvantages smaller players and potential competitors. Interac charges e-transfer fees to financial institutions, who in turn may charge customers fees to send them -- usually between $1 and $1.50, depending on their banking plan. Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner has called Interac's fee schedule a "closely guarded secret," but was able to confirm at an Oct. 28 meeting of the House industry committee that Interac uses a tiered volume-based pricing model, where larger financial institutions with a higher volume of e-transfers receive a discounted rate, while smaller institutions with lower volumes pay more per transaction. The Competition Bureau was asked to investigate whether Interac's governance and fee structure constitutes an "abuse of dominance" under the Competition Act. It has opened a "preliminary investigation."