Visa and Mastercard paid back 90% of the network (also known as scheme fees) fees Australian issuers were charged last quarter. Acquirers got back 11%.
On domestic transactions from July to September 2026:
- Issuers paid A$397 million (US$270 million) in gross network fees (also known as scheme fees) and got A$358 million (US$245 million) back in rebates.
- Acquirers paid A$295 million (US$200 million) and got A$33 million (US$22 million) back, leaving A$262 million (US$178 million) net.
That puts about 87% of the net domestic cost of the networks on acquirers, and through them on merchants.
Neither side should read these numbers as fees being under control. For issuers, the 90% is an aggregate weighted toward the largest institutions and their deals, and a mid-size issuer's picture can look very different. It's also worth checking what your own incentive agreement actually covers: all of your network fees, or only certain categories (a minority of your fees). For acquirers, rebates barely touch the bill.
Whatever isn't offset is billed in full, and that's where the controllable cost sits: opt-out services that aren't being used, best practices that haven't been put in place, and billing errors. Practically speaking, we typically see 7 to 15% of network fees that can be reduced.