Scheme fees are the fastest-rising, least-scrutinised part of card-acceptance costs. The Payment Systems Regulator found that the core scheme and processing fees Visa and Mastercard charge UK acquirers rose by at least 25% in real terms between 2017 and 2023, costing UK businesses an estimated £170 million a year more. The real story is what is missing: unlike interchange, scheme fees are not capped, and the PSR found no clear link between the rises and better service.
How fast scheme fees have risen, what that has cost UK businesses, and the regulatory gap that lets it happen.
The Payment Systems Regulator's market review is the most authoritative UK analysis of scheme fees. Its headline findings are stark.
| Finding | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Rise in core scheme and processing fees | at least +25% | 2017–2023 (real terms) |
| Extra annual cost to UK businesses | at least £170m | per year |
| Link to improved service | No clear evidence found | review finding |
| Regulatory cap | None | current |
The PSR concluded that Visa and Mastercard raised these fees in a market with little competitive pressure and without demonstrating matching improvements in service. That is the regulatory case for intervention, and it is why scheme fees, not interchange, are now the live cost-of-acceptance debate.
Scheme fees are one of three parts of the merchant service charge. Understanding the stack is the key to seeing what you can and cannot control.
| Component | What it is | Paid to |
|---|---|---|
| Interchange | Capped wholesale fee (0.2% debit, 0.3% credit) | The customer's card issuer |
| Scheme fees | Network assessment and processing fees (uncapped) | The card network (Visa, Mastercard) |
| Acquirer margin | Your processor's mark-up | Your processor |
| Merchant service charge | The total rate you actually pay | The three rows above, combined |
Scheme fees are the part of your card costs you can least control, which makes pricing transparency and the regulatory outcome matter most.
Two points keep the headline numbers honest: the rise is in real terms, and the cost figure is an estimate.
The 25% rise is in real terms, meaning after stripping out inflation, so the cash increase over the period was larger still. The £170 million a year is the PSR's estimate of the additional cost to UK businesses, characterised in the review as "at least" that figure, not a precise audited total. Both come from the PSR's market review, which is the authoritative source, but they should be read as a regulator's findings and estimates rather than line-item accounts.
The scheme-fee findings come from the Payment Systems Regulator's market review of card scheme and processing fees, the authoritative UK source.
| Source | Publisher | Period covered | Type | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market Review MR22/1.10 (Scheme and Processing Fees) | Payment Systems Regulator | 2017–2023 (final report 2025) | Regulator | 2 Jun 2026 |
The 25% real-terms rise and the £170 million annual cost come directly from the PSR's MR22/1.10 final report, the authoritative review of UK scheme fees.
We state that the 25% is a real-terms figure and the £170 million is a PSR estimate ("at least"), not an audited line item.
Because the networks do not publish simple scheme-fee rates, we do not present a per-transaction scheme fee, only the PSR's aggregate findings.
All figures map to PSR Market Review MR22/1.10. The 25% is labelled real-terms, the £170 million as a PSR estimate, scheme fees are kept distinct from capped interchange, and we do not invent a per-transaction rate. Last full review: 2 Jun 2026.