Network Fee Optimization as a Managed Service

Your network fees, managed by experts.

Managed network fee optimization is an expert-led service that turns network fee data into realized savings and disciplined governance. CardTraq's specialists work alongside your team to identify opportunities, guide you to act on them, and keep your network fee costs under control. Outside the US these are referred to as scheme fees.

You stay in control of your network relationships. We do not take over your relationship with Visa and Mastercard, or act on your behalf. We coach your team and equip them to act with confidence: we tell you what to ask for, who to ask, and how to draft the emails to send. You stay the customer of record, and you engage the networks directly.

The opportunities found, realized, and well-governed, without the internal lift.

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Watercolor illustration of a payments analyst studying network fee charts on screen, representing expert-managed network fee optimization.

When To Add An Expert

Turning the data into savings takes depth of expertise.

The platform surfaces every fee and every opportunity. Turning that into realized savings, month after month, takes deep network fee knowledge: understanding what each line item on a Visa or Mastercard invoice actually means, and whether you still need it. Teams with a specialist in-house have everything they need. For everyone else, that expertise is what makes the difference.

Fees reward a trained eye

New fees, penalties, and avoidable charges appear every month. It takes a specialist to spot the ones worth acting on before they compound on the invoice.

Identifying a saving is not capturing it

Acting on network fees means knowing exactly what to do, and following through, month after month. Expert guidance is what turns an opportunity into a realized saving.

Governance takes ownership

Demonstrating control of network fees internally takes consistent, structured reporting, which is hard to sustain without dedicated ownership.

What You Get

The platform, plus a network fee expert working alongside you.

Everything you need to stay on top of your network fees, with an expert doing the work with you and guiding every action.

The Network Fee Tracking platform, which ingests your invoices, tracks every fee, and flags new charges and penalties automatically as they land.
A baseline of your current network fees, with the size of your savings opportunity identified up front.
Quarterly expert sessions where a specialist walks the invoices with you, interprets what changed, and captures realized savings.
Precise, step-by-step guidance on what each fee means and how to reduce or remove it with the networks, including guidance on drafting the emails to send.
Access to a specialist between sessions. Month-to-month change rarely warrants more frequent meetings, but you are never left waiting for answers.

Low-lift to adopt: no PII, no vendor changes, no contract rewrites.

How It Works

Four steps, and the heavy lifting sits with us.

Baseline

We take twelve months of invoices and build a baseline of your current network fees, with the size of your savings opportunity identified up front.

Continuous tracking

The platform ingests every invoice from then on and flags new fees, penalties, and avoidable charges automatically as they land.

Quarterly expert session

A CardTraq specialist walks your invoices with you, explains what changed, and gives you the exact steps, and guidance on the emails to draft, to reduce or remove each fee.

Govern and report

We help you build the internal reporting that shows finance and leadership that network fees are actively managed.

What It's For

Identify, realize, and govern your network fees.

A typical review identifies potential savings opportunities worth 7 to 15 percent of network fees. Beyond the savings, the service is built to keep your network fees identified, realized, and well-governed.

Identify

Nothing slips through the cracks

The platform watches every invoice and flags what matters automatically, so new fees, penalties, and avoidable charges are caught as they land rather than discovered after they have compounded. Your quarterly session is where an expert tells you what to do about them.

Realize

Savings captured, not just listed

We give you the precise steps to act on each opportunity with Visa, Mastercard, and your partners, including guidance on drafting the emails to send, and we track what is actually realized, so identified savings turn into real savings.

Govern & report

Control you can demonstrate

We help optimize your internal reporting so you can show that network fees are actively managed, with a clear, consistent view for finance and leadership.

The Result

A well-managed card portfolio

Savings realized, no cost leakage, and governance you can stand behind. The outcome of network fees that are watched, acted on, and reported with discipline.

Who You Work With

Payment economics experts, on your side.

Your sessions are led by senior specialists who have spent their careers inside network fees and card economics.

Martha Rhine

Payments Compliance Lead

Adam Hozaifa

Payment Economics Expert

Ian Coles

Payment Economics Expert

Meet the full team →

FAQs

Frequently asked questions

1How is this different from Network Fee Tracking?

Network Fee Tracking is the CardTraq platform that tracks your network fees. It is everything a team needs to run its own analysis, and ideal if you have the expertise in-house. Managed Network Fee Optimization adds a CardTraq specialist who runs it with you, for teams who would rather not build that expertise internally. Same platform, more hands.

2Do you deal with Visa and Mastercard on our behalf?

No, and that is deliberate. You keep direct control of your network relationships. We coach your team through it: what each fee means, what to ask for, who to ask, and how to draft the emails to send. You stay the customer of record with Visa and Mastercard, and the work lands with your team.

3How often do we meet?

Quarterly expert sessions, with access to a specialist in between. Month-to-month change rarely warrants more frequent meetings, but you are never left waiting for answers.

4What savings can we expect?

Results vary by portfolio, but a typical review identifies potential savings opportunities worth 7 to 15 percent of network fees.

5What is involved in getting started?

It is low-lift: no PII, no vendor changes, and no contract rewrites. We start with twelve months of invoices to build your savings baseline.

6Who is it for?

Issuers, acquirers, and BIN sponsors without a dedicated network fee specialist in-house. Outside the US these are referred to as scheme fees. Anyone who wants the result without carrying the workload internally.

Ready to hand your network fees to an expert?

Our payment economics team runs your network fee optimization with you, and gives you the step-by-step guidance to capture the savings yourself. Let us show you the opportunity in your invoices.

Book a call or contact us for a confidential conversation.