Blog

A quiet Visa fee change that went live April 1 is turning crypto MCC costs into a per-transaction margin variable.

Visa's Integrity Risk Fee for certain crypto-related transactions went live April 1. It applies to MCC 6012 and 6051 (per Merchant Cost Consulting's 2026 interchange roundup).

Visa is marketing Vee (Visa e-commerce experience) as a long-range commerce upgrade.

If you own issuer or acquirer economics, it's more useful to think about Vee as the container for the 2026 CNP pricing and interchange redesign.

Mastercard TLID fees start in 2027. But the fee exposure is being built right now.

Most acquirers and processors know about Mastercard's Transaction Link Identifier (TLID) by now. It's a 22-character identifier intended to keep a transaction linked across its lifecycle...

Interchange Income Is Under Pressure, and Rising Network Fees Make It Worse

*How interchange caps, state legislation, and expanding Visa and Mastercard scheme fees are squeezing card issuer profitability*

The Networks Sold You Tokenization. Now They're Raising the Toll.

If you process high-ticket card-not-present (CNP) transactions, two recent scheme fee changes, one already in effect and one taking effect April 1, 2026, may have broken your pricing math. And...

Australia's RBA Finalizes Card Payment Reform: What Global Issuers and Acquirers Need to Know

If you manage card economics in any regulated market, pay attention: Australia just locked in a full-stack reset.

Australia's Card Interchange Landscape Is About to Change. Here's What Issuers & Acquirers Need to Know. (Part 1 of 3)

*Editor's note (March 31, 2026): The RBA published its Conclusions Paper today. This article has been updated with the final decisions.*

Network Fee Optimization Isn't Optional Anymore. Here's What the Best Issuers and Acquirers Are Doing. (Part 3 of 3)

In Part 1 of this series, I covered the RBA's proposed interchange reforms and what they mean for the Australian market.

Scheme (Network) Fees Are Outpacing Transaction Growth. And It's Not Just Australia. (Part 2 of 3)

In Part 1 of this series, I walked through the RBA's proposed interchange reforms and what they mean for issuers and acquirers in Australia.

Visa Wants to Be Your Acquirer Processor. Not Just Your Card Network (Scheme)

On March 9, Visa launched Visa Intelligent Authorization out of Singapore.

Behavior-Based Network (Scheme) Fees: Lessons from Fiserv and Moneris

The 30-Minute Network (Scheme) Fee Review: A Practical Routine for Issuers and Acquirers

If you only have 30 minutes a month to review your network (scheme) fee invoice…

Mastercard just raised the bar for BIN sponsors

Mastercard’s UK move this week is a clean signal of where BIN sponsorship standards are heading.

From Invoice to Forecast: How to Build a Card Network (Scheme) Fee Model

If network (scheme) fees keep “surprising” you, you don’t have a fee model.

Illinois Interchange Ruling: No Swipe Fees on Taxes and Tips - What It Could Mean for Issuers

Illinois is a small state-level story with a potentially big interchange policy template.

In BaaS, Partner Operations Become Issuer-Level Network Risk

In BaaS, a partner’s ops can become an issuer-level network(scheme) compliance problem.

Agentic Commerce: Revenue, Risk, and Complexity Across the Payments Stack

Agentic commerce will be great for consumers.

Card Network (Scheme) Fee Analysis: How Issuers and Acquirers Can Finally See What They’re Paying

Card [network fees](https://www.cardtraq.com/network-fee-explainer#card-network-scheme-fees-explained) are one of the fastest-growing cost lines in the payments ecosystem — and one of the least...

What Lean Manufacturing Can Teach Payments About Hidden Operational Cost

We’ve started doing some work in Japan.

How Issuers Can Reduce Visa and Mastercard Network (Scheme) Fees by Eliminating Optional Services

Visa and Mastercard network fees are rising, and many issuers are feeling growing pressure on margins as 2026 planning begins.

Why Visa and Mastercard Network (Scheme) Communications Create Hidden Operational Risk

Visa and Mastercard operate the world’s largest [**card networks**](/glossary#cardnetwork) (often referred to as [**card schemes**](/glossary#cardnetwork) outside the US).

Card issuers: the proposed Visa–Mastercard interchange settlement could hit your portfolio harder than you think. Are you ready for what’s coming?

Under the proposed settlement, **standard consumer credit card** [**interchange**](/glossary#interchange) would be capped at approximately **1.25%**. Today, those products typically earn...

Why AI in Payments Requires Structured Card Network (Scheme) Knowledge

We were speaking with a bank recently about how they are building AI automation into their payments capabilities.

Mastercard Network (Scheme) Fees Are Growing Faster Than Payments Volume. Here’s What That Means for Issuers and Acquirers

Yesterday I posted on Visa. Issuers and acquirers are paying more to the networks - and Mastercard shows it again.