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Payment Processing Fee Statistics 2026

US merchants paid a record $198.25 billion in card processing fees in 2025, a weighted average of 1.59% of purchase volume, according to the Nilson Report. Debit interchange on large-bank cards stays near 22 to 24 cents under the Federal Reserve's Regulation II cap, while exempt debit cards cost $0.52 on average. Abroad, regulators are pushing fees down: Australia cuts consumer credit interchange to 0.3% in October 2026, and the UK regulator found Visa and Mastercard raised UK-EEA online interchange fivefold after Brexit.

Download CSVCite this pageUpdated November 6, 2026 · 22 sources

This page tracks what businesses pay to accept card payments: interchange fees set by card networks and paid to issuers, scheme and processing fees paid to Visa and Mastercard, processor pricing, and the extra cost of cross-border payments. It covers the United States in most detail, with regulator and central bank data from the UK, the euro area, Germany, Australia and Canada. Most figures describe 2024 to 2026; the Federal Reserve's debit data describe 2023, the latest year published. Amounts are in US dollars unless marked otherwise.

Card acceptance is one of the larger costs a merchant has after goods and labor. The Nilson Report puts US processing fees at $198.25 billion in 2025, up from $187.20 billion in 2024, and the weighted average rate has edged up to 1.59%. Credit cards generate almost 80% of that bill even though they carry only about 55% of purchase volume, because credit interchange is much higher than debit. The CFPB's finding that consumers earned $47.5 billion in credit card rewards in 2024 shows where much of that money goes.

Debit is cheaper because it is regulated. The Federal Reserve's Regulation II limits large issuers to 21 cents plus 0.05% of the purchase plus a 1 cent fraud adjustment, and the Fed's data show covered transactions averaging $0.22 to $0.24 in 2023. Transactions on cards from smaller banks and credit unions, which are exempt, averaged $0.52. Network fees, which the cap does not cover, reached $12.95 billion, and merchants and acquirers paid 64.9% of them. The Fed proposed in 2023 to cut the base cap to 14.4 cents, but the 2011 formula remains the reference point.

Other markets regulate more heavily. The UK and EU cap consumer interchange at 0.2% for debit and 0.3% for credit, so the UK Payment Systems Regulator has turned to scheme and processing fees, which it found rose at least 25% in real terms between 2017 and 2023, costing UK businesses at least £170 million more a year. Australia's Reserve Bank is lowering its consumer credit cap from 0.8% to 0.3% and its debit cap to 8 cents from October 2026, ending surcharging at the same time, and expects merchants to save about A$910 million a year. Canada negotiated a 0.95% average in-store credit rate for small businesses.

Cross-border payments are where costs are highest and least regulated. The European Commission caps interchange on non-European cards used online in the EEA at 1.15% for debit and 1.50% for credit, several times domestic rates. When those limits stopped applying to UK-EEA payments after Brexit, Visa and Mastercard raised rates fivefold, and the PSR estimates UK acquirers paid £150 million to £200 million extra in 2022. Network results show why this matters: Visa's cross-border volume grew 14% in its latest quarter, faster than its overall volume, and processor list prices for international cards, such as Stripe's 3.25% plus 2% for currency conversion in Poland, add up quickly for merchants selling abroad.

01

What US merchants pay to accept cards

The Nilson Report's annual tally is the most cited measure of total card acceptance costs in the United States. It counts interchange, network and processing fees together, so it is the full bill merchants see rather than any one component. Fees grew faster than the 5.0% rise in purchase volume in 2025, which is why the weighted average rate moved from 1.57% to 1.59%. Credit cards drive most of the bill, and the CFPB's data on rewards shows where a large part of that credit card revenue ends up.

US merchant card processing fees, 2024 and 2025

All credit, debit and prepaid card processing fees paid by US merchants, billions of US dollars.

$187 billion
$198 billion
20242025

Source: Nilson Report, Merchant Processing Fees and Industry Investment

  • $198.25 billion

    US merchants paid $198.25 billion in card processing fees in 2025, a new record according to the Nilson Report.

    Nilson Report · Merchant Processing Fees and Industry Investment (Mar 2026)

    Exact quote

    US merchants paying $198.25 billion in processing fees in 2025.

  • 1.59%

    The weighted average card processing fee paid by US merchants reached 1.59% of purchase volume in 2025.

    Nilson Report · Merchant Processing Fees and Industry Investment (Mar 2026)

    Exact quote

    The weighted average processing fee rate reached 1.59% of purchase volume.

  • $187.20 billion

    US merchant processing fees rose 8.7% to $187.20 billion in 2024.

    Nilson Report · Merchant Processing Fees and Industry Investment (Mar 2026)

    Exact quote

    US merchant processing fees rose 8.7% year over year to $187.20 billion in 2024.

  • 79.34%

    Credit cards accounted for 79.34% of all card processing fees US merchants paid in 2024.

    Nilson Report · Merchant Processing Fees and Industry Investment (Mar 2026)

    Exact quote

    Credit cards accounted for 79.34% of all merchant processing fees paid in 2024.

  • $12.498 trillion

    Cards issued in the US generated $12.498 trillion in purchase volume in 2025, up 5.0% from 2024.

    Nilson Report · Merchant Processing Fees in the United States, 2025 (Mar 2026)

    Exact quote

    Credit, debit and prepaid cards issued in the US—both general purpose and private label brands—generated $12.498 trillion in purchase volume (spending for goods and services) in 2025, up 5.0% from 2024.

  • $47.5 billion

    US consumers earned $47.5 billion in credit card rewards in 2024, nearly double 2020, according to the CFPB. Interchange paid by merchants is a main source of funding for these programs.

    Consumer Financial Protection Bureau · The Consumer Credit Card Market 2025 (Dec 2025)

    Exact quote

    In 2024, consumers earned $47.5 billion in credit card rewards, nearly double the rewards earned in 2020.

  • $5.9 billion

    US cardholders disputed $9.8 billion in credit card charges in 2024, resulting in $5.9 billion in chargebacks against merchants.

    Consumer Financial Protection Bureau · The Consumer Credit Card Market 2025 (Dec 2025)

    Exact quote

    In 2024, cardholders disputed $9.8 billion in credit card charges, resulting in $5.9 billion in chargebacks.

02

US debit interchange and the Regulation II cap

Regulation II caps debit interchange only for issuers with $10 billion or more in assets. The Federal Reserve's data show the cap working as designed for those covered transactions, at around 22 to 24 cents, while exempt transactions from smaller issuers cost merchants more than twice as much. Network fees are a separate and growing cost, and merchants and their acquirers now pay nearly two thirds of them. The 2023 proposal to cut the cap has not taken effect, so the 2011 formula of 21 cents plus 0.05% plus a 1 cent fraud adjustment still describes the maximum. The latest full data describe 2023.

Average US debit interchange fee per transaction, 2023

US debit and general-use prepaid card transactions, calendar year 2023. Covered means issuers with $10 billion or more in assets.

  • Covered, single-message$0.24
  • Covered, dual-message$0.22
  • Exempt from Regulation II$0.52

Source: Federal Reserve Board, 2023 Interchange Fee Revenue, Covered Issuer Costs, and Covered Issuer and Merchant Fraud Losses Related to Debit Card Transactions

03

Card networks and payment processors

Network and processor results show how much revenue sits on top of interchange. Visa and Mastercard earn fees on volume and processing, and both grew revenue faster than payment volume in 2026. Processors differ widely in what they keep: Adyen's net revenue was about 0.16% of processed volume in the first half of 2026, far below the 1.59% average US merchant cost, which suggests most of a large merchant's card bill goes to issuers and networks rather than to the processor. Published list prices for small merchants, such as PayPal's 2.99% plus a fixed fee for card payments, sit well above the Nilson average of 1.59%.

04

Cross-border card costs

Cross-border card payments cost merchants several times more than domestic ones. The EU caps interchange on cards from outside Europe at 1.15% for debit and 1.50% for credit online, against 0.2% and 0.3% for domestic cards. After Brexit, Visa and Mastercard raised UK-EEA online rates to those inter-regional levels, which the PSR found cost UK businesses £150 million to £200 million a year. The PSR concluded a cap was needed but, in October 2025, chose not to impose an interim one while Mastercard, Visa and Revolut challenged it in court. Australia's foreign card cap of 1.0% starts in April 2027. Network revenue tied to cross-border volume keeps growing faster than domestic volume.

UK-EEA online interchange before and after Brexit

Interchange as a share of transaction value on card-not-present payments between the UK and the EEA, Visa and Mastercard.

  • Consumer debit, before0.2%
  • Consumer debit, after1.15%
  • Consumer credit, before0.3%
  • Consumer credit, after1.5%

Source: Payment Systems Regulator, Market review of UK-EEA consumer cross-border interchange fees: Final report (MR22/2.7)

05

UK and European card fees

The UK and EU cap interchange at 0.2% for consumer debit and 0.3% for consumer credit, so the debate there has moved to scheme and processing fees, which are not capped. The PSR found those fees rose at least 25% in real terms between 2017 and 2023 and concluded Visa and Mastercard face ineffective competition. Retailer survey data from the BRC point the same way. Central bank cost studies, such as the Bundesbank's, show that domestic debit schemes remain the cheapest card option for merchants, and that cash is cheapest per transaction. Figures use different years and definitions, so compare them as directions rather than exact levels.

  • £170 million

    UK businesses pay at least £170 million more a year in Visa and Mastercard scheme and processing fees than seven years earlier, the PSR estimates.

    Payment Systems Regulator · Market review of card scheme and processing fees: final report (MR22/1.10) (Mar 2025)

    Exact quote

    Based on the evidence we have gathered as part of this market review, we estimate that UK businesses pay at least £170 million more, annually, for scheme and processing fees than they did seven years ago.

  • 25%

    Average core scheme and processing fees charged to UK acquirers rose by at least 25% in real terms between 2017 and 2023, as a share of transaction value.

    Payment Systems Regulator · Market review of card scheme and processing fees: final report (MR22/1.10) (Mar 2025)

    Exact quote

    average core fees (as a proportion of transaction value) have increased in real terms by at least 25% between 2017 and 2023.

  • 61%

    Cards were used for 61% of all UK payments in 2023 and almost 86% of retail transaction value.

    Payment Systems Regulator · Market review of card scheme and processing fees: final report (MR22/1.10) (Mar 2025)

    Exact quote

    In 2023, 61% of all payments in the UK were made using cards, making up almost 86% of the total value of retail transactions.

  • 95%

    Over 95% of transactions on UK-issued cards run on Mastercard or Visa, according to the PSR.

    Payment Systems Regulator · Market review of card scheme and processing fees: final report (MR22/1.10) (Mar 2025)

    Exact quote

    over 95% of transactions using UK- issued cards are made on their rails.

  • £1.48 billion

    UK retailers paid £1.48 billion in card fees in 2024, more than double the 2019 level, according to the British Retail Consortium.

    British Retail Consortium · High interest rates push shoppers from credit to debit cards (BRC Payments Survey 2025) (Sep 2025)

    Exact quote

    However, at £1.48 billion, the fees paid by retailers have more than doubled since 2019.

  • 12.6%

    Credit cards fell from 14.2% to 12.6% of UK retail transactions in 2024, the BRC found.

    British Retail Consortium · High interest rates push shoppers from credit to debit cards (BRC Payments Survey 2025) (Sep 2025)

    Exact quote

    This year’s survey reveals a significant decline in the use of credit cards, from 14.2% of transactions to 12.6%.

  • €0.43

    Cash costs German retailers an average of €0.43 per transaction, the cheapest option per payment, according to a 2025 Bundesbank study.

    Deutsche Bundesbank · Cash and girocard payments least expensive option for retailers (Nov 2025)

    Exact quote

    For merchants, cash payments, at an average cost of €0.43 per transaction, are the least expensive option in terms of cost per payment.

  • 1%

    Germany's domestic girocard debit scheme costs retailers just under 1% of turnover, the lowest of any payment method in the Bundesbank study.

    Deutsche Bundesbank · Cash and girocard payments least expensive option for retailers (Nov 2025)

    Exact quote

    In terms of the ratio of cost to turnover, the girocard is the most cost-effective method, at an average cost of just under 1 % of turnover.

  • €1.8 trillion

    Card payments in the euro area were worth €1.8 trillion in the second half of 2025, an average of about €39 per payment.

    European Central Bank · Payments statistics: second half of 2025 (Jul 2026)

    Exact quote

    The corresponding total value of card payments was €1.8 trillion, 6.9% higher than in the second half of 2024, reflecting an average value of around €39 per payment.

06

Fee caps and reforms in Australia and Canada

Australia is making the largest change of any market tracked here. From 1 October 2026 the RBA lowers the consumer credit interchange cap from 0.8% to 0.3%, caps debit at 8 cents, and ends card surcharging; a 1.0% cap on foreign cards follows in April 2027. The RBA expects merchants to save about A$910 million a year. Canada took a negotiated route, with Visa and Mastercard agreeing to lower in-store credit interchange for small businesses to a weighted average of 0.95%. Neither reform has full-year results yet, so savings figures are official estimates.

Australia's new interchange caps from October 2026

Maximum interchange on domestic-issued cards as a share of transaction value; debit also capped at 8 cents per transaction.

  • Debit and prepaid (ad valorem)0.16%
  • Consumer credit0.3%
  • Commercial credit0.8%

Source: Reserve Bank of Australia, Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, Conclusions Paper: Interchange Fees

  • 0.3%

    Australia is lowering the cap on domestic consumer credit card interchange to 0.3%, from 0.8%, effective 1 October 2026.

    Reserve Bank of Australia · Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, Conclusions Paper: Interchange Fees (Mar 2026)

    Exact quote

    lower the cap on domestic-issued consumer credit card interchange to 0.3 per cent and abolish the benchmark

  • 0.16%

    Australia's debit and prepaid interchange cap falls to 8 cents, or 0.16% on an ad valorem basis.

    Reserve Bank of Australia · Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, Conclusions Paper: Interchange Fees (Mar 2026)

    Exact quote

    maintain the domestic-issued debit and prepaid card interchange benchmark at 8 cents and lower the cap to 8 cents (or 0.16 per cent on an ad-valorem basis)

  • 1.0%

    Australia will cap interchange on all foreign-issued card transactions at 1.0% of transaction value from 1 April 2027.

    Reserve Bank of Australia · Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, Conclusions Paper: Interchange Fees (Mar 2026)

    Exact quote

    The PSB has concluded that it is in the public interest to introduce a single cap of 1.0 per cent of transaction value on interchange fees for all transactions on foreign-issued cards acquired in Australia.

  • A$910 million

    The RBA expects its interchange changes to lower wholesale card payment costs for Australian merchants by around A$910 million a year.

    Reserve Bank of Australia · Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, Conclusions Paper: Executive Summary (Mar 2026)

    Exact quote

    lowering wholesale card payment costs for merchants by around $910 million per year through reducing interchange caps on domestic-issued cards and introducing an interchange cap on foreign-issued cards.

  • A$1.6 billion

    Australian consumers pay an estimated A$1.6 billion of the A$1.8 billion in card surcharges charged each year, which the RBA is ending from October 2026.

    Reserve Bank of Australia · Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, Conclusions Paper: Executive Summary (Mar 2026)

    Exact quote

    Consumers are estimated to be paying $1.6 billion of a total $1.8 billion in card payment surcharges charged each year on designated card networks.

  • 16%

    16% of Australian merchants currently surcharge card payments, the RBA estimates.

    Reserve Bank of Australia · Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, Conclusions Paper: Executive Summary (Mar 2026)

    Exact quote

    The PSB therefore anticipates that the 16 per cent of merchants that currently surcharge may increase their advertised prices to cover the cost of accepting card payments.

  • 6 cents

    The weighted-average interchange fee on Australian debit and prepaid cards has fallen to around 6 cents per transaction.

    Reserve Bank of Australia · Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, Conclusions Paper: Interchange Fees (Mar 2026)

    Exact quote

    the weighted-average interchange fee on domestic-issued debit and prepaid card transactions acquired in Australia has fallen to around 6 cents, below the benchmark of 8 cents per transaction and far below the caps of 10 cents per transaction or 0.2 per cent of transaction value.

  • 0.95%

    In Canada, Visa and Mastercard cut in-store consumer credit interchange for qualifying small businesses to a weighted average of 0.95% from October 2024.

    Department of Finance Canada · Government reduces credit card fees by 27 per cent for small business owners (Oct 2024)

    Exact quote

    reduce domestic consumer credit interchange fees for in-store transactions to an annual weighted average interchange rate of 0.95 per cent

  • 27%

    More than 90% of Canadian businesses that accept credit cards qualify for interchange cuts of up to 27%.

    Department of Finance Canada · Government reduces credit card fees by 27 per cent for small business owners (Oct 2024)

    Exact quote

    More than 90 per cent of businesses that accept credit cards will receive lower rates and see interchange fees reduced by up to 27 per cent.

  • C$1 billion

    Canada's Department of Finance expects the cuts to save eligible small businesses about C$1 billion over five years.

    Department of Finance Canada · Government reduces credit card fees by 27 per cent for small business owners (Oct 2024)

    Exact quote

    These fee reductions will save eligible small businesses about $1 billion over five years.

FAQ

How much do merchants pay in credit card processing fees?

US merchants paid $198.25 billion in card processing fees in 2025, a weighted average of 1.59% of purchase volume, according to the Nilson Report. Credit cards accounted for 79.34% of all fees in 2024. Small merchants on list pricing often pay more; PayPal's US list price for card payments is 2.99% plus a fixed fee.

What is the debit card interchange cap in the United States?

Under the Federal Reserve's Regulation II, issuers with $10 billion or more in assets can charge no more than 21 cents plus 0.05% of the transaction, plus 1 cent for fraud prevention. The Fed reports that covered transactions averaged $0.22 to $0.24 in 2023, while exempt transactions from smaller issuers averaged $0.52. A 2023 proposal to cut the base to 14.4 cents has not replaced the 2011 cap.

How much more do cross-border card payments cost?

Interchange on non-European cards used online in the EEA is capped at 1.15% for debit and 1.50% for credit under commitments accepted by the European Commission, compared with 0.2% and 0.3% for domestic EU cards. The UK Payment Systems Regulator found Visa and Mastercard raised UK-EEA online rates fivefold after Brexit, costing UK acquirers £150 million to £200 million extra in 2022. Processors add their own charges, such as currency conversion fees.

Are card fees regulated outside the US?

Yes. The UK and EU cap consumer interchange at 0.2% for debit and 0.3% for credit. Australia's Reserve Bank is lowering its consumer credit cap to 0.3% and its debit cap to 8 cents from 1 October 2026, and Canada agreed with Visa and Mastercard on a 0.95% average in-store credit rate for qualifying small businesses from October 2024.

Why are credit card fees higher than debit card fees?

Debit interchange is capped for large US issuers, while credit interchange is not, and much of credit interchange funds rewards. The CFPB reports US consumers earned $47.5 billion in credit card rewards in 2024. Australia's Reserve Bank cited the same issue when it cut credit caps, saying merchants should not have to subsidize rewards programs.

Methodology note

We chose figures that describe what merchants pay to accept card payments and took each one from the organization that produced it: the Federal Reserve Board, the CFPB, the UK Payment Systems Regulator, the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the Deutsche Bundesbank, the Reserve Bank of Australia and Canada's Department of Finance; the Nilson Report and the British Retail Consortium for industry totals; and company filings, releases and published price lists from Visa, Mastercard, Adyen, PayPal and Stripe. Definitions differ. Nilson's totals combine interchange, network and processor fees for all US cards; the Federal Reserve's figures cover debit and general-use prepaid cards only and describe 2023; the PSR and RBA figures are regulator estimates; company revenue is not the same as merchant cost, because networks also earn fees from issuers. List prices are what a small merchant pays before negotiation and change over time; the Stripe price shown is the page served to a business in Poland and is included to show the structure of cross-border surcharges. Amounts are in each source's currency and are not adjusted for inflation. Every quote is re-fetched from the source by our checker. See how we rank and verify.

Sources

  1. 1Adyen: Adyen publishes H1 2026 financial results
  2. 2British Retail Consortium: High interest rates push shoppers from credit to debit cards (BRC Payments Survey 2025)
  3. 3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: The Consumer Credit Card Market 2025
  4. 4Department of Finance Canada: Government reduces credit card fees by 27 per cent for small business owners
  5. 5Deutsche Bundesbank: Cash and girocard payments least expensive option for retailers
  6. 6European Central Bank: Payments statistics: second half of 2025
  7. 7European Commission: Antitrust: Commission accepts commitments by Mastercard and Visa to cut inter-regional interchange fees
  8. 8Federal Reserve Board: 2023 Interchange Fee Revenue, Covered Issuer Costs, and Covered Issuer and Merchant Fraud Losses Related to Debit Card Transactions
  9. 9Federal Reserve Board: Debit Card Interchange Fees and Routing (proposed rule), Federal Register Vol. 88 No. 218
  10. 10Federal Reserve Board: Federal Reserve Board requests comment on a proposal to lower the maximum interchange fee that a large debit card issuer can receive for a debit card transaction
  11. 11Mastercard: Mastercard Incorporated Reports Third-Quarter 2026 Financial Results (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1)
  12. 12Nilson Report: Merchant Processing Fees and Industry Investment
  13. 13Nilson Report: Merchant Processing Fees in the United States, 2025
  14. 14Payment Systems Regulator: Market review of UK-EEA consumer cross-border interchange fees: Final report (MR22/2.7)
  15. 15Payment Systems Regulator: Market review of card scheme and processing fees: final report (MR22/1.10)
  16. 16PayPal: PayPal Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1)
  17. 17PayPal: PayPal Merchant Fees (United States)
  18. 18Reserve Bank of Australia: Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, Conclusions Paper: Interchange Fees
  19. 19Reserve Bank of Australia: Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, Conclusions Paper: Executive Summary
  20. 20Stripe: Stripe's 2025 annual letter
  21. 21Stripe: Stripe pricing (Poland)
  22. 22Visa: Visa Reports Fiscal Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2026 Results (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1)

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Rankozo. (2026, November 6). Payment Processing Fee Statistics 2026. https://rankozo.com/payment-processing-fee-statistics

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