Processing fee

1. Payments - cards - charges.

In this context, processing fees or charges relate to credit cards, debit cards, and other cards.

Processing fees are ones payable for authorisation, clearing and settlement services in a card scheme.

Fees increased fivefold following UK's departure from EU

"We’re carrying out two market reviews to understand whether card payments are working well, and to make sure that businesses, and ultimately consumers, get a good deal...

Acquirers and issuers pay fees to Mastercard and Visa for services related to participation in the card scheme (scheme fees), and for authorisation, clearing and settlement services for card payments (processing fees).

Our work on our card-acquiring market review, reinforced through ongoing work with stakeholders, shows that the fees acquirers pay have increased significantly since 2014."

UK Payments Systems Regulator - Annual Plan 2023/24.

2. Other schemes and transactions.

A fee or charge payable for processing a transaction in any other context.

See also

• Acquirer
• Authorisation
• Clearing
• Credit
• Credit card
• Cross-border interchange fee
• Debit card
• Emerging Payments Association
• Interchange fee
• Issuer
• Mastercard
• Merchant
• Payment
• Payment Systems Regulator (PSR)
• Payments and payment systems
• PSOR
• Receipt
• Remittance
• Scheme fee
• Settlement
• Stakeholder
• Transaction
• Visa

Other resource

• Payment Systems Regulator - Annual Plan 2023/24