UK interchange fees: Visa and Mastercard rate tables
Interchange is the fee your card machine provider pays to the customer's card-issuing bank on every transaction, and it is the largest single cost inside your merchant service charge. As of August 2026, UK domestic interchange on consumer cards is capped at 0.2% for debit and 0.3% for credit; commercial card interchange is uncapped; and UK-EEA online interchange stands at 1.15% for debit and 1.5% for credit following post-Brexit increases the regulator has ruled unjustified and is moving to cap.
Rates and contract terms checked August 2026· Based on providers' published pricing
UK domestic interchange caps: consumer cards
Where the merchant, the card machine provider and the card-issuing bank are all in the UK, interchange on consumer cards is capped by the UK Interchange Fee Regulation (the retained version of EU Regulation 2015/751, kept in UK law by the Interchange Fee (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019):
| Card type | Interchange cap | On a £100 sale |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer debit (including prepaid) | 0.2% | £100 × 0.2% = £0.20 |
| Consumer credit | 0.3% | £100 × 0.3% = £0.30 |
| Commercial cards (business, corporate, purchasing) | Not capped | Set by scheme fee schedules |
Two exclusions matter in practice. Commercial cards sit outside the caps entirely, which is why a corporate credit card costs your provider, and ultimately you, several times what a personal debit card does. And three-party schemes such as American Express are not covered by the caps, because there is no separate issuer and acquirer to pay interchange between. The exact uncapped rates vary by card product and how the transaction is processed; Visa and Mastercard publish current schedules (Visa's UK schedule is linked in the sources below), and we quote no single figure here because there is not one.
UK-EEA cross-border interchange: the post-Brexit increases
When the UK left the EU, transactions between the UK and the European Economic Area fell outside the EU's cross-border caps. Over 2021 and 2022, Visa and Mastercard raised interchange on UK-EEA consumer card-not-present transactions (online and keyed payments, for example an EEA-issued card paying a UK web shop) fivefold:
| UK-EEA card-not-present | Before | Current (Aug 2026) | On a £100 sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer debit | 0.2% | 1.15% | £1.15 (was £0.20) |
| Consumer credit | 0.3% | 1.5% | £1.50 (was £0.30) |
The increases applied to card-not-present transactions; in-person UK-EEA payments were not raised in the same way. If you sell online to EEA customers, the effect is direct: interchange on a £100 EEA credit card payment went from £0.30 to £1.50, and on interchange++ pricing that difference lands on your statement line by line.
Where the regulator has got to (August 2026)
The Payment Systems Regulator's final report on its market review, published in December 2024, concluded the increases were made without justification, in a market that is not working well, at an extra cost to UK businesses of £150-200 million a year, and that a price cap is the appropriate remedy. During 2025 the PSR dropped its proposed interim (stage 1) cap and consulted instead on the methodology for a lasting cap, with that consultation closing on 21 November 2025.
On 15 January 2026 the High Court rejected a judicial review challenge from Visa, Mastercard and Revolut, confirming the regulator has the power to impose the cap, and the regulator's 2026/27 plan lists implementing it as a priority. (The PSR's functions are in the process of being consolidated into the Financial Conduct Authority; the card fees work continues through that transfer.)
As of August 2026 no final cap level or start date has been confirmed, so the 1.15% and 1.5% rates above are the ones that currently apply. The PSR has consulted on capping UK-EEA card-not-present rates at the pre-increase levels of 0.2% and 0.3%, but until a cap takes effect we list the current rates, not the proposed ones. Check the sources at the end of this page for the latest position.
Where interchange sits inside your card machine fee
The rate you pay your provider, the merchant service charge (MSC), is built from three layers: interchange (paid to the customer's card-issuing bank), scheme fees (paid to Visa or Mastercard for using the network), and the acquirer's own margin. Interchange is the largest of the three on most transactions.
A worked example on a £100 in-person consumer debit sale at a flat 1.75% reader rate: you pay £100 × 1.75% = £1.75. Interchange within that is at most £100 × 0.2% = £0.20, which is £0.20 ÷ £1.75 = 11% of the fee. The remaining £1.55covers scheme fees, the provider's costs (hardware, support, fraud, settlement) and margin. Our card machine fees guide breaks down every layer of the MSC in detail.
Who these tables actually matter to
- Interchange++ merchants: directly. If your statement itemises interchange, scheme fees and acquirer margin separately, every rate on this page flows straight through to what you pay, and the UK-EEA increases hit your cross-border online sales in full. Our statement walkthrough shows where to find each line.
- Blended and pay-as-you-go merchants: indirectly. On a flat 1.69% or 1.75% reader, or a blended acquirer tariff, the provider pays interchange and bakes it into your headline rate, so you only feel changes when the provider reprices. The trade-off is that you also do not benefit line by line when interchange is low, which is why blended rates on cheap debit transactions carry the biggest markup.
- Anyone comparing quotes. The consumer caps are a useful floor: no UK provider can buy domestic consumer debit processing for less than 0.2% plus scheme fees, so a quote far above that on a debit-heavy business is margin, not cost. Separate per-transaction authorisation fees stack on top of any percentage rate; see our guides to authorisation fees and card machines without authorisation fees.
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Frequently asked questions
What are interchange fees?
Interchange is the fee paid by your card machine provider (the acquirer) to the bank that issued the customer’s card on every transaction. It is set by the card schemes (Visa and Mastercard), not by your provider, and it is the largest cost component inside the merchant service charge you pay. Your provider passes it on, either itemised (interchange++ pricing) or bundled into a blended or flat rate.
What is the interchange fee cap in the UK?
For UK domestic transactions on consumer cards, interchange is capped at 0.2% of the transaction value for debit cards and 0.3% for credit cards under the UK Interchange Fee Regulation, the retained version of EU Regulation 2015/751. On a £100 consumer debit sale the interchange is at most 20p; on a £100 consumer credit sale, at most 30p. The caps do not apply to commercial (business) cards or to three-party schemes such as American Express.
Why did UK-EEA interchange fees go up after Brexit?
When the UK left the EU, UK-EEA transactions stopped being covered by the EU cross-border caps. Over 2021 and 2022 Visa and Mastercard raised UK-EEA consumer card-not-present interchange fivefold, from 0.2% to 1.15% for debit and from 0.3% to 1.5% for credit. The Payment Systems Regulator’s December 2024 final report found the increases were made without justification and cost UK businesses an extra £150-200 million a year, and it is implementing a price cap; the High Court rejected Visa, Mastercard and Revolut’s challenge to its power to do so in January 2026.
Do interchange caps apply to business and commercial cards?
No. The UK caps apply only to consumer debit and credit cards. Interchange on commercial cards (business debit and credit, corporate and purchasing cards) is uncapped and set by the schemes’ published fee schedules, at materially higher rates than the 0.2%/0.3% consumer caps. This is why acquirers on interchange++ pricing charge noticeably more when a customer pays on a company card, and why blended tariffs sometimes carry a separate commercial card surcharge.
Does interchange matter if I pay a flat rate like 1.75%?
Indirectly. On a flat or blended tariff you never see interchange itemised: the provider pays it and prices their headline rate to cover it. On a £100 in-person consumer debit sale, a 1.75% flat fee is £1.75, of which interchange is at most 20p, about 11% of what you pay; the rest covers scheme fees and the provider’s costs and margin. Interchange changes only reach you when providers reprice, whereas interchange++ merchants see every change directly on their statement.
Sources
Rates and regulatory positions on this page were verified against the following sources, as of August 2026 (rates checked August 2026). Interchange rules change; check these for the current position.
- Payment Systems Regulator: the Interchange Fee Regulation (the 0.2% debit and 0.3% credit consumer caps)
- The Interchange Fee (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (how the caps were retained in UK law)
- PSR: market review into UK-EEA cross-border interchange fees (the 1.15%/1.5% rates, the remedies process and current status)
- PSR final report announcement, December 2024 (the fivefold increase and £150-200 million annual cost findings)
- FStech: Visa, Mastercard and Revolut lose High Court challenge, January 2026
- Visa Europe: fees and interchange (the schemes' published schedules, including uncapped commercial rates; Mastercard publishes an equivalent schedule on mastercard.co.uk)