What interchange actually is
Interchange is the fee the card scheme (Visa or Mastercard) tells your acquirer to pay the customer's card-issuing bank on every transaction. Your acquirer collects it from your settlement and passes it to the issuer - it is not the acquirer's revenue.
On a UK merchant statement, interchange usually sits inside your headline blended rate or, on an Interchange Plus (IC+) plan, appears as an itemised pass-through line. Either way, it is the single largest component of card acceptance cost for most UK merchants.
Because interchange is set by the schemes, no acquirer - Dojo, Worldpay, Barclaycard, Stripe or otherwise - can price below it. Their real competitive lever is the margin (acquirer markup) and scheme fees they add on top.
The UK regulated interchange caps
Since the EU Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR) was retained into UK law post-Brexit, consumer card interchange for domestic UK transactions is capped by statute. These caps apply to Visa and Mastercard consumer debit and credit cards issued in the UK when used at a UK merchant.
| Card type | Cap | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer debit | 0.20% | UK-issued Visa & Mastercard consumer debit, UK merchant |
| Consumer credit | 0.30% | UK-issued Visa & Mastercard consumer credit, UK merchant |
| Commercial cards | Not capped | Business, corporate, purchasing and fleet cards |
| Non-EEA issued (inter-regional) | Not capped | Cards issued outside the UK / EEA used at UK merchants |
Published rates for uncapped categories
Commercial and cross-border interchange sits well above the regulated caps and is where card mix quietly inflates your effective rate. The ranges below reflect published Visa and Mastercard UK interchange schedules; the exact rate depends on the merchant category code (MCC), card sub-product and how the card was presented.
| Category | Visa (typical range) | Mastercard (typical range) |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial credit (business) | 1.50% - 1.80% | 1.50% - 1.90% |
| Corporate / purchasing | 1.80% - 2.00% | 1.80% - 2.00% |
| Inter-regional consumer debit (card present) | 1.15% | 1.15% |
| Inter-regional consumer credit (card present) | 1.50% | 1.50% |
| Inter-regional consumer (card not present) | 1.50% - 1.90% | 1.50% - 1.90% |
How interchange shows up on your statement
On a blended pricing plan, interchange is invisible - it is baked into one headline rate per card category. On IC+, it appears as a separate line, usually itemised by rate band.
Blended statement view
One rate per category (e.g. 'Consumer debit 0.75%'). The acquirer has estimated a margin over interchange and locked it in.
IC+ statement view
Interchange listed at cost (e.g. '0.20% x GBP 42,300'), scheme fees itemised, and acquirer margin on a separate 'plus' line.
Why your effective rate is nearly always higher than the caps
The regulated 0.2% / 0.3% caps make headlines, but very few UK merchants pay anything close to them as an all-in cost. Card mix, scheme fees and acquirer margin all stack on top.
- Commercial cards - these sit outside the consumer caps and can materially change the weighted cost.
- International cards - the applicable rate depends on where the card was issued and how the payment was taken.
- Scheme fees - these sit alongside interchange and may be itemised or included within a blended rate.
- Acquirer margin - this is the provider's own element and must be taken from the written quote or statement.
- Authorisation, PCI and terminal fees - fixed monthly costs that push the effective rate up further on low-volume merchants.
What good and bad interchange handling looks like
Two identical businesses on identical volume can pay very different effective rates depending on whether interchange is passed through cleanly or bundled into a blended rate with generous acquirer padding.
| Cost component | Illustrative IC+ | Illustrative blended |
|---|---|---|
| Interchange | 0.34% (pass-through) | Included |
| Scheme fees | 0.09% (pass-through) | Included |
| Acquirer margin | 0.35% | 1.05% (blended) |
| Effective rate | 0.78% | 1.05% |
| Difference in this example | - | GBP 108 |
How to check whether you are being charged fair interchange
A five-minute check against any UK merchant statement.
- 1
Confirm your pricing model
Look for phrases like 'Interchange Plus', 'IC+' or itemised scheme fees. If you cannot see interchange as a separate line, you are on blended pricing.
- 2
Estimate your card mix
From the statement's card category breakdown, note the % of consumer debit, consumer credit, commercial and international volume.
- 3
Apply the relevant published rates
Use the regulated consumer caps where they apply, then use the current Visa or Mastercard schedule for commercial and cross-border categories. Do not substitute a market-average rate.
- 4
Use the scheme fees actually charged
Take these from the statement or written pricing schedule. If they are not disclosed, ask the acquirer before relying on the estimate.
- 5
Compare to your paid effective rate
Total fees / total turnover from the statement header. The gap between the two is your acquirer margin plus any padding - that is what is negotiable.
Key takeaways
- UK consumer debit interchange is capped at 0.20%, credit at 0.30% - only for UK-issued cards at UK merchants.
- Commercial and inter-regional categories sit outside the consumer caps; check the current scheme schedule for the applicable rate.
- Interchange is a pass-through cost, not acquirer revenue - the negotiable part is margin and scheme fee handling.
- Interchange Plus is not automatically cheaper than blended; compare the complete cost using your own card mix.
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About this guide
Published by Card Payment Connect, an independent card-payment consultancy for UK businesses. Reviewed by Matthew McCarthy, who has worked in UK merchant services for over a decade. Last reviewed 10 September 2026.