Scheme fees
Scheme fees are charges levied by the card networks themselves, such as Visa and Mastercard, for routing and processing a transaction. They are separate from interchange, are not capped by UK regulation, and are paid by the merchant’s provider.
They are made up of many small components — authorisation, clearing, settlement, cross-border, currency and assorted service charges.
Unlike interchange on UK consumer cards, they are not regulated, and the schemes revise them periodically.
On an interchange plus contract these appear as a separate line. On a blended rate they are absorbed into the single percentage.
Why it matters to you
Scheme fee increases are the usual reason an interchange plus bill creeps up when nothing about your business has changed.
Work out what you’re actually paying.
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