Card Scheme Fees UK: Visa & Mastercard Fees Explained

Card processing fees are often presented to merchants as a single percentage.

Behind that percentage sits a much more complicated cost structure.

Depending on the pricing arrangement, the amount a business pays to accept a Visa, Mastercard or other card transaction can include:

• interchange;
• card scheme fees;
• scheme processing fees;
• the acquirer's or payment provider's margin;
• authorisation or transaction charges;
• gateway costs;
• terminal costs; and
• other service or contractual fees.

Scheme fees are therefore only one layer of the total cost of accepting card payments.

Understanding that layer is particularly important for businesses using interchange-plus or IC++ pricing, because underlying card-network costs may be passed through more visibly.

What Are Card Scheme Fees?

Card scheme fees are charges associated with participation in and use of card-payment schemes such as Visa and Mastercard.

In the UK, the Payment Systems Regulator distinguishes between:

• scheme fees – charges relating to participation in the card scheme; and
• processing fees – charges associated with functions such as authorisation, clearing and settlement.

The acquirer or other payment institution interacts with the card scheme and may ultimately incorporate relevant scheme and processing costs into what the merchant pays.

For the merchant, those costs might be:

• shown separately;
• grouped together;
• passed through under an IC++ structure; or
• absorbed into a blended transaction rate.

This is why there is no single universal Visa scheme fee or Mastercard scheme fee that every UK merchant pays on every transaction.

Card Scheme Fees vs Interchange Fees: What's the Difference?

Scheme fees and interchange fees are often confused, but they relate to different parts of the card-payment ecosystem.

In simplified terms:

Other charges may then sit around that transaction cost, including gateway, terminal, PCI, account or other service fees.

Our Merchant Account Fees Explained guide looks at the complete merchant-services bill.

Who Actually Pays Visa and Mastercard Scheme Fees?

This is another area where the terminology can become confusing.

Visa and Mastercard operate card-payment systems used by issuers, acquirers and other participants.

Scheme and processing charges can arise within those relationships.

For a merchant, the relevant question is usually how the acquirer or payment provider incorporates those underlying costs into the price charged for accepting cards.

The merchant may therefore bear the economic cost without receiving a simple invoice directly from Visa or Mastercard.

How visible that cost is depends heavily on the merchant's pricing model.

Why Isn't There One Visa or Mastercard Scheme Fee?

Because card-network pricing is substantially more complicated than one percentage.

Scheme and processing fees can be affected by factors including:

• the card scheme;
• transaction type;
• card type;
• merchant and issuer location;
• domestic or cross-border status;
• currency;
• card-present or card-not-present processing;
• authorisation;
• clearing;
• settlement;
• authentication;
• specific card-network services;
• volume or activity; and
• other scheme-specific rules.

Not every fee applies to every transaction.

Some costs can also be fixed amounts, percentage-based charges or triggered by particular events rather than simply being a percentage of the transaction value.

This is why quoting one generic scheme-fee percentage can be misleading.

What Are Card Scheme Processing Fees?

The phrase scheme fees is often used loosely to describe a wider group of card-network charges.

The Payment Systems Regulator makes a more specific distinction.

It describes processing fees as charges for activities such as:

• authorisation;
• clearing; and
• settlement.

Authorisation

When a customer attempts to pay, information travels through the payment ecosystem so the transaction can be assessed and approved or declined.

Clearing

Following authorisation, transaction information needs to be exchanged and reconciled between the relevant parties.

Settlement

The financial obligations arising from the transaction ultimately need to be settled through the payment system.

Fees connected with these functions are conceptually different from interchange, even though merchants may see all of the underlying costs reflected within one merchant-services bill.

Why Card Scheme Fees Matter More on IC++ Pricing

Businesses using IC++ pricing tend to become much more aware of scheme fees.

IC++ broadly separates the transaction price into three cost layers:

1. Interchange
2. Scheme and processing costs
3. Acquirer or provider margin

This gives merchants greater visibility into what sits underneath the total payment-processing charge.

On a blended rate, the payment provider might instead quote:

1.20% + 10p per transaction

without showing each underlying cost layer separately.

Neither pricing structure is automatically cheaper.

A blended rate can be simple to understand, while IC++ can offer greater transparency for merchants that have enough volume and card-mix data to analyse it properly.

Our Interchange Fees Explained: UK Rates, IC+ and IC++ Pricing guide goes into these structures in more detail.

Why Have UK Card Scheme Fees Been Under Regulatory Scrutiny?

Scheme and processing fees have received significant attention from the UK's Payment Systems Regulator.

The PSR's market review examined fees charged by Mastercard and Visa to acquirers.

Its final report found that Mastercard and Visa had increased their core scheme and processing fees to acquirers by at least 25% since 2017, which the regulator estimated was costing UK businesses at least an additional £170 million each year.

The regulator also identified concerns around:

• weak competitive constraints;
• fee increases;
• complex pricing structures;
• difficulty understanding charges; and
• the information available to acquirers about those fees.

This matters to merchants because costs imposed further up the card-payment chain can ultimately affect the price businesses pay to accept cards.

What Changed in 2026?

In July 2026, the Payment Systems Regulator issued two new specific directions relating to Mastercard and Visa scheme and processing fees.

Specific Direction 22 – Information, Transparency and Complexity

This is designed to improve the information acquirers receive about scheme and processing fees.

The objective is to make fees easier to understand, forecast and reconcile, including clearer information about what fees cover, what triggers them and how they are calculated.

Specific Direction 23 – Pricing Governance

This introduces governance requirements around Mastercard and Visa pricing decisions.

The PSR wants stronger evidence and processes behind decisions to introduce or change relevant fees.

These measures are primarily directed at the relationship between the schemes and acquirers.

However, the intended benefit extends further down the chain because better information at acquiring level should improve transparency around the costs ultimately borne by merchants.

Does This Mean Visa and Mastercard Scheme Fees Are Now Capped?

No.

The 2026 measures should not be confused with a simple cap on scheme fees.

The new requirements focus on areas including:

• information;
• transparency;
• pricing complexity; and
• pricing governance.

Merchants should therefore not assume the regulatory intervention means scheme and processing fees have been frozen or reduced to one standard level.

Can Merchants Negotiate Scheme Fees?

A merchant does not normally negotiate Visa or Mastercard's underlying scheme pricing directly with the card scheme.

However, that does not mean the merchant's entire card-processing bill is non-negotiable.

There can still be commercial differences between payment providers in areas such as:

• acquiring margin;
• how underlying costs are passed through;
• fixed transaction charges;
• gateway costs;
• terminal costs;
• monthly account charges;
• minimum charges;
• settlement;
• contractual fees; and
• other payment services.

The useful question is therefore not:

“Can you negotiate Visa's scheme fee for me?”

It is:

“Is the total amount my provider charges for this transaction profile competitive?”

How Do Scheme Fees Appear on a Merchant Statement?

That depends on the provider and pricing model.

A merchant statement might show:

• individual fee categories;
• a combined scheme or network-cost category;
• IC++ components;
• additional card-specific charges; or
• one blended processing rate with little visibility of individual underlying costs.

Names and presentation can also differ between providers.

This is why merchants should avoid comparing two statements solely by matching individual line descriptions.

Instead, compare:

• total processing cost;
• card turnover;
• number of transactions;
• card mix;
• domestic versus international cards;
• consumer versus commercial cards;
• online versus face-to-face activity; and
• all additional monthly and transaction charges.

UK Interchange and Scheme Fees Chart

The table below provides an indicative comparison of interchange and scheme-fee figures across a range of card types and issuer regions.

It is useful for demonstrating why the underlying cost of accepting a card can vary depending on:

• card brand;
• debit or credit card;
• consumer or commercial card;
• where the card was issued; and
• whether the transaction is domestic, European or international.

How to Read the Scheme Fee Table

The table illustrates something that is easy to miss when comparing merchant account quotes: two transactions for the same value can have very different underlying costs.

A UK consumer debit-card payment, for example, can have a very different underlying cost profile from an international commercial-card transaction.

This is why merchants with a meaningful mix of:

• commercial cards;
• corporate cards;
• international cards;
• European cards; or
• high transaction volumes

should be particularly cautious about comparing providers using one headline transaction percentage.

Interchange and Scheme Fees Are Separate

The two columns in the table should not be combined conceptually.

Interchange relates to the issuer/acquirer side of the card transaction.

Scheme and processing fees relate to the card network and associated scheme services.

Your payment provider's own margin can then sit on top of these underlying costs.

Additional charges can then include gateway fees, terminal rental, monthly account charges and other payment-service costs.

For a complete explanation of the different layers, see our merchant account fees guide and our guide to interchange, IC+ and IC++ pricing.

Why We Don't Recommend Comparing Scheme Fees in Isolation

The table is useful for understanding the structure of card-processing costs, but it should not be used as a standalone provider-comparison tool.

Card-scheme pricing contains numerous fee categories and can change over time. The amount ultimately paid by a merchant also depends on the transaction mix and how the acquirer or payment provider passes those costs through.

For an established merchant, the more useful comparison is normally:

actual card mix + interchange + scheme/network costs + provider margin + additional fees = total effective payment cost.

Recent merchant statements can therefore be considerably more useful than comparing one published percentage.

Why Card Mix Changes the Amount You Pay

Two merchants processing exactly £1 million each year can have very different card-processing costs.

Consider:

Merchant A

• mainly UK consumer debit cards;
• face-to-face payments;
• relatively high average transaction value;
• few international cards.

Merchant B

• significant commercial-card usage;
• online transactions;
• international customers;
• large transaction count;
• multiple currencies.

The turnover may be identical.

The underlying cost profile is not.

This is why MAS generally recommends comparing payment providers using the merchant's actual or expected transaction mix rather than one advertised percentage.

Do International Cards Affect Scheme Fees?

They can.

Card-network costs can vary according to where:

• the merchant is located;
• the card was issued;
• the transaction is processed; and
• other relevant card-scheme conditions are met.

International transactions can also involve other costs beyond scheme fees, including different interchange rates and currency-conversion charges.

Businesses with substantial overseas sales should therefore separate:

UK cards → EEA cards → other international cards

when analysing their payment profile.

Scheme Fees and Cross-Border Interchange Are Not the Same Thing

This distinction is particularly important when discussing UK and EEA card costs.

Cross-border interchange concerns the amount flowing between acquirer and issuer.

Scheme and processing fees concern charges associated with the card scheme and network-processing services.

Both can influence the merchant's final cost, but they are different parts of the transaction.

The Payment Systems Regulator has also conducted separate work into UK-EEA consumer cross-border interchange fees.

Do not use “scheme fee” and “interchange fee” interchangeably when reviewing a quote or merchant statement.

How to Audit Scheme Fees on IC++ Pricing

If your business uses IC++, begin with recent merchant statements or processing reports.

1. Identify the pricing model

Confirm whether you are actually on IC++, IC+, blended pricing or another structure.

2. Separate the cost layers

Identify where possible:

• interchange;
• scheme/network costs;
• provider margin; and
• other transaction charges.

3. Review the card mix

Look at the proportion of:

• consumer debit;
• consumer credit;
• commercial cards;
• UK cards;
• EEA cards;
• other international cards;
• card-present; and
• card-not-present transactions.

4. Review fixed charges as well as percentages

A small pence-per-transaction cost can become significant for businesses processing very large numbers of low-value transactions.

5. Compare several months

One statement can be distorted by seasonal or unusual card activity.

Where possible, compare at least three representative months.

Card Scheme Fees vs the Merchant Service Charge

The Merchant Service Charge is the wider amount charged for processing card transactions.

Depending on the commercial arrangement, it can incorporate:

• interchange;
• scheme and processing costs;
• acquirer margin; and
• other transaction-related costs.

The way those components are presented varies considerably.

That is why comparing Merchant Service Charges using one percentage can produce misleading conclusions.

A merchant should always ask:

What is included in this rate — and what will be charged separately?

Can the Card Payments Summary Box Help?

For merchants covered by the relevant requirements, the Card Payments Summary Box can provide another useful view of existing card-acquiring costs.

It is designed to make pricing and service information easier to understand and compare.

However, merchants with complex IC++ arrangements may still benefit from reviewing the underlying statements and card mix rather than relying on one summary figure.

What Should a High-Volume Merchant Focus On?

The larger the payment volume, the more important small differences can become.

A high-volume business should look at:

• the entire card mix;
• interchange;
• scheme and processing fees;
• provider margin;
• authorisation charges;
• gateway charges;
• commercial-card usage;
• international-card usage;
• refund and chargeback costs;
• settlement;
• FX where relevant; and
• other non-transaction fees.

Our UK Merchant Fees Benchmark provides wider context on the costs businesses encounter when accepting cards.

The MAS Card Processing Cost Stack

This is the sequence we recommend considering when analysing a merchant-services arrangement.

It prevents one fee from being considered in isolation.

A provider with a slightly lower acquiring margin could still produce a higher overall bill depending on:

• fixed charges;
• gateway pricing;
• terminal costs;
• international fees;
• minimum charges;
• contract terms; or
• how other costs are passed through.

How Merchant Advice Service Helps With Card Processing Costs

Merchant Advice Service helps businesses understand their payment requirements before approaching providers.

Where an established business wants to review processing costs, we can consider:

• current card turnover;
• transaction volumes;
• average transaction value;
• card mix;
• UK and international activity;
• current pricing model;
• merchant statements;
• gateway costs;
• terminal requirements;
• settlement;
• technology and integrations; and
• the wider provider relationship.

The aim is not to identify one isolated scheme fee as “too high”.

It is to establish whether the overall payment arrangement is appropriate and competitive for that merchant's actual payment profile.

Businesses can also browse merchant account providers through The Payments Directory®.

Editorial Note

This guide is written and reviewed by Merchant Advice Service to help UK businesses understand card scheme fees, processing fees and the wider cost of accepting Visa and Mastercard transactions.

Merchant Advice Service is an independent payment advice and provider-matching service. We are not Visa, Mastercard, an acquiring bank or a card scheme.

Card-scheme pricing, provider pricing and regulatory requirements can change. Merchants should use current provider and card-scheme information when analysing specific fees.

Our information, matching and introduction service is free to businesses. MAS may receive commission or a referral fee from some commercial partners where an introduction results in a completed product or account.

Related Merchant Advice Service Content

Interchange Fees Explained: UK Rates, IC+ and IC++ Pricing
Explains the other major underlying card-processing cost and how interchange, scheme costs and provider margin work within IC+ and IC++ pricing.

Merchant Account Fees Explained
Our wider guide to merchant service charges, transaction costs, scheme fees, interchange, provider margin, gateway fees and other payment-processing charges.

UK Merchant Fees Benchmark 2026
Provides wider context around UK card-processing costs and the factors businesses should consider when benchmarking their merchant fees.

Card Payments Summary Box
Explains how eligible merchants can use their Card Payments Summary Box alongside merchant statements to understand existing costs and compare payment providers.

Payment Gateway Fees UK
Explains gateway fees and why ecommerce businesses need to distinguish payment-gateway charges from acquiring, interchange and card-scheme costs.

Merchant Account Providers
Explore merchant account and acquiring providers through The Payments Directory®.

Sources & References

Payment Systems Regulator – Market Review into Card Scheme and Processing Fees
The PSR's central resource for its work examining Mastercard and Visa scheme and processing fees. It explains the distinction between scheme and processing fees and contains the latest regulatory publications and directions.

Payment Systems Regulator – Final Report on Card Scheme and Processing Fees
The PSR's March 2025 final report concluded that Mastercard and Visa did not face effective competitive constraints in core scheme and processing services and found substantial increases in fees charged to acquirers.

Payment Systems Regulator – Specific Directions
The PSR's official register includes Specific Direction 22 on information and transparency of scheme and processing fees and Specific Direction 23 on pricing governance.

Payment Systems Regulator – 2026 Scheme Fee Measures
Official PSR explanation of the July 2026 measures requiring Mastercard and Visa to provide clearer information to acquirers about fees, how they are triggered and how they are calculated.

Visa – UK and European Interchange Fees
Visa's official source for current published interchange reimbursement information, useful for distinguishing Visa interchange from separate scheme and processing charges.

Mastercard – UK Interchange Rates
Mastercard's official source for current UK interchange-rate information and another useful reference for separating interchange from Mastercard scheme and processing costs.