What are card scheme fees?

Charges Visa and Mastercard make to providers for using their networks: mandatory core fees, processing fees for authorisation, clearing and settlement, and optional services on top.

Are scheme fees capped in the UK?

No. Interchange is capped for UK consumer cards; scheme and processing fees are not.

Why did scheme fees go up?

The regulator found Visa and Mastercard face ineffective competition on the acquiring side and could not establish that the rises reflected their costs.

Will I be told before scheme fees change?

From July 2027 the schemes must give providers the information needed to understand new or changed fees six months before they apply. Whether that reaches you depends on your provider and your pricing.

The board · note 03

Scheme fees, the part nobody caps

Up at least 25% in real terms since 2017. From 2027 the schemes must explain new fees six months ahead.

Card acceptance · UK · checked 16 Sep 2026

The short answer

Card scheme fees are Visa and Mastercard’s cut, and nobody caps them

Scheme and processing fees are what the card networks charge your provider for every transaction that runs on their rails. Unlike interchange they have no legal ceiling. The Payment Systems Regulator found they rose by at least 25% in real terms between 2017 and 2023, costing UK businesses at least £170m a year more.

Source: PSR, MR22/1.10 final report · checked 16 Sep 2026

The lesson

Three things to hold on to about scheme fees

The rise is in the core fees, the mandatory ones. Optional services sit on top.
The regulator could not work out how much of the increase reflects the schemes’ own costs, because it did not get reliable UK cost data.
A quote that fixes your markup but passes scheme fees through at cost is a quote where a real share of your bill can move without anyone asking you.

Task before opening time. Find the scheme fee line on your statement. If there is no such line, your pricing is blended, and the markup note is the one to read next.

The reference table

What sits inside one scheme fee line

Line	What it pays for	Capped
Core scheme fees	mandatory charges for using the network	no
Processing fees	authorisation, clearing and settlement	no
Behavioural fees	charges linked to how a transaction is submitted or processed	no
Optional services	data, tokenisation, fraud tools	no

Source: PSR, PS26/1 final decision · checked 16 Sep 2026

The file so far

What the regulator has done about scheme fees

2017 to 2023Core scheme and processing fees to UK providers rise at least 25% in real terms.
Mar 2025The PSR’s final report: Visa and Mastercard face ineffective competition on the acquiring side, and fees are hard to understand.
Dec 2025Draft directions on transparency and pricing governance go out for consultation.
May 2026The regulator decides to require financial reporting from the schemes.
Jul 2026Final decision, PS26/1: two directions to Mastercard and Visa.
Nov 2026Fee decisions by the schemes must follow the new pricing governance standards.
Jul 2027The schemes must give providers the information to reconcile fees, and explain new or changed fees six months before they take effect.

None of this caps a fee. It makes rises visible earlier and harder to justify loosely.

Sources: PSR MR22/1.10, PSR CP25/3, PSR PS26/1 · checked 16 Sep 2026

The guide

What to ask your provider now that the rules have changed

Will you show scheme and processing fees as their own line? If the answer is no, you are on blended pricing and the six months’ notice stops at your provider.
When a scheme announces a new or changed fee, will you tell me, and when?
Do any behavioural fees apply to how my transactions are sent, and what would remove them?
If scheme fees fall, does my rate fall with them?

Ask in writing. The last question is the one that tells you whether “pass-through” runs in both directions.

Illustrative case

The bike shop charged for how its payments were sent

A bike shop moved its online checkout to a new plugin. Two months later its statement grew by a few pounds a week in charges nobody could name. They turned out to be behavioural scheme fees linked to how the new plugin submitted its transactions.

The fix was a setting in the plugin. Finding it took three phone calls, because on blended pricing the charge had simply been folded into the rate. The shop is invented; behavioural fees are one of the categories the regulator singled out.

Questions we get

Four questions about scheme fees

What are card scheme fees?: Charges Visa and Mastercard make to providers for using their networks: mandatory core fees, processing fees for authorisation, clearing and settlement, and optional services on top.
Are scheme fees capped in the UK?: No. Interchange is capped for UK consumer cards; scheme and processing fees are not.
Why did scheme fees go up?: The regulator found Visa and Mastercard face ineffective competition on the acquiring side and could not establish that the rises reflected their costs.
Will I be told before scheme fees change?: From July 2027 the schemes must give providers the information needed to understand new or changed fees six months before they apply. Whether that reaches you depends on your provider and your pricing.

WHAT YOU PAYthree prices, one lineINTERCHANGEthe capped partTHE MARKUPwhere blended hides themTHE STATEMENTfind the scheme line