Development of Visa and Mastercard Fees

Card scheme fees of Visa and Mastercard (“scheme fees”) change continuously and represent one of the components that make up the total cost of a card transaction. In addition, there is also the interchange fee (interbank fee). The table below provides an overview of already implemented as well as announced (planned) changes to scheme fees over the past period and the coming years.

Comgate typically offers fixed, guaranteed pricing, whereas many providers use the so-called MIF++ model (interchange + scheme fees + markup). With MIF++, changes in scheme and interchange fees are naturally reflected in the final price for the merchant, often without prior notice. With fixed pricing, the price is clearly defined in advance and easy to understand.

Explanations:

• Domestic – transactions paid with a card issued in the same country as the merchant’s country (e.g. a transaction paid with a card issued in the Czech Republic at a merchant with a Czech company registration)

• Intra – transactions paid with a card issued within the EEA at an EEA merchant

• Inter – transactions paid with cards issued outside the EEA

Overview of fee changes

1 July 2024 – Mastercard – MC Acquirer Cross-Border Fee (Consumer, Commercial)

• Cross-border payment fee – consumer cards, commercial cards

• Increase of 0.25% (Inter Consumer and Commercial)

1 April 2025 – Visa – Visa Cyber Threat Protection Fee

• Payment protection fee

• New fee in the amount of USD 0.0005 per transaction (Domestic, Intra, Inter)

1 July 2025 – Mastercard – MC Acquirer Cross-Border Fee (Consumer, Commercial)

• Cross-border payment fee – consumer cards, commercial cards

• Increase of 0.02% (Intra Consumer), 0.07% (Intra Commercial)

1 July 2025 – Mastercard – MC Global Wholesale Travel Transaction Program (GWTTP) Fee

• Virtual card fee (e.g. booking cards)

• Increase of 0.15% (Domestic, Intra, Inter)

1 October 2025 – Visa – Visa Secure Credential CNP Fee

• Payment gateway transaction fee

• Increase of 0.05% (Domestic, Intra)

13 October 2025 – Mastercard – MC Non-Local Currency Settlement Fee

• Foreign currency settlement fee

• New fee in the amount of 0.10% (Domestic, Intra, Inter)

1 April 2026 – Visa – Visa Non-Domestic Settlement Currency Volume Fee

• Fee for settlement in a currency other than the merchant’s domestic currency

• Increase of 0.05% (Domestic, Intra, Inter)

1 April 2026 – Visa – Visa Token Facilitation Fee

• Apple Pay / Google Pay payment fee at POS

• New fee in the amount of 0.01% (Domestic, Intra), 0.05% (Inter)

1 April 2026 – Visa – Visa Token Facilitation Fee (E-commerce)

• Apple Pay / Google Pay payment fee on the payment gateway

• New fee in the amount of 0.05% (Domestic, Intra), 0.08% (Inter)

1 April 2026 – Visa – Visa Secure Fee – cardholder initiated transaction

• 3DS fee on the payment gateway

• Increase of EUR 0.005 (Domestic, Intra), EUR 0.010 (Inter)

1 April 2026 – Visa – Visa Secure Fee – merchant initiated transaction

• Recurring payment fee on the payment gateway

• New fee in the amount of EUR 0.002 (Domestic, Intra, Inter)

1 April 2026 – Visa – Visa account verification

• Authorization fee

• Increase of EUR 0.0027 (Domestic, Intra), EUR 0.0175 (Inter)

1 July 2026 – Visa – Visa Acquirer POS Service Fee – Slovakia

• Credit and debit card payment fee

• Increase of 0.005% (Domestic, Intra, Inter)

1 October 2026 – Visa – Visa File Gateway Services in Europe – per 1 MB sent to Visa

• Visa communication fee

• Increase of EUR 2.5 (Domestic, Intra, Inter)

1 April 2027 – Visa – Visa Non-Domestic Settlement Currency Volume Fee

• Foreign currency settlement fee

• Increase of 0.05% (Domestic, Intra, Inter)

1 April 2028 – Visa – Visa Non-Domestic Settlement Currency Volume Fee

• Foreign currency settlement fee

• Increase of 0.05% (Domestic, Intra, Inter)