Why they are called scheme fees
In the UK and parts of Europe, card networks are commonly called card schemes, so merchants and payment providers use scheme fees for charges tied to those networks. US businesses can encounter the wording in cross-border acquiring documents, pricing schedules, or statements from providers using international terminology.
The name describes who sets the fee, not a separate layer of card cost. Scheme fees refer to network fees, not interchange paid to the card-issuing bank or processor markup. Network charges can be percentage-based, per authorization, or monthly, so the label does not mean every item is a charge on each sale. On a US statement, compare the itemized label and calculation with your authorization count, sales volume, and monthly activity. The rest of this page explains network fees, the primary US term.
What network fees are
Network fees are charges set by card networks such as Visa and Mastercard for services tied to processing card payments. Networks bill acquirers and issuers for the fees assigned to them. Your business does not pay the network directly, but your acquirer may pass its costs on to you.
Network Fees is an umbrella term. Assessment Fees are one part of it. Other network charges include authorization fees, such as Visa's Acquirer Processing Fee (APF) and Mastercard's Network Access and Brand Usage (NABU) fee, as well as monthly charges such as Visa's Fixed Acquirer Network Fee (FANF). These are separate from interchange, which goes to the issuing bank, and your processor's markup.
Network fees are set by card networks, but you can still check whether your statement bills them accurately.
Examples of network fees on card payments
As of 2026, Visa's assessment is 0.14% on credit and 0.13% on debit and prepaid. Visa's APF is $0.0195 per credit authorization and $0.0155 per debit authorization. FANF is a monthly fee based on factors that include locations for card-present businesses and card-not-present volume.
As of 2026, Mastercard's assessment is 0.14% on sales, plus 0.01% on transactions of $1,000 or more. Mastercard's NABU fee is $0.0195 per authorization. These examples show why network fees are not one flat rate: some are percentages of sales, some are per authorization, and others are monthly. Your actual charges depend on the network and the transactions or programs involved.
For context, the Federal Reserve reported that acquirers paid an average of $0.083 per transaction, or 0.18% of transaction value, in network fees across networks in 2023. That is an industry average for acquirer-paid fees, not a promised rate or a direct quote of your business's charges.
Where to look on your statement
Look for itemized lines with names or abbreviations such as Visa assessment, APF, FANF, Mastercard assessment, or NABU. Your processor may group these under network fees or pass them through as separate charges. Match percentage fees to the relevant sales volume, per-authorization charges to authorization counts, and monthly fees to the stated billing period.
Compare the line items with your pricing terms and transaction totals. A network fee is different from interchange and processor markup, even when a statement groups them into one total. The markup is the negotiable part of those three cost layers. Clear itemization helps you spot a new charge, a duplicate line, or a rate that does not match the fee description.
What you can actually change
You cannot negotiate the card network's fee schedule. You can control how clearly fees are billed and challenge charges that do not match the service, volume, or period shown on your statement.
- Separate network fees from interchange and processor markup in your statement review.
- Compare percentage charges with the sales volume and fixed charges with authorization counts.
- Check monthly fees such as FANF against the locations or card-not-present activity used to calculate them.
- Question duplicate, newly added, or unexplained network-fee lines before accepting them as pass-through costs.
- Separate the layers. Identify interchange, network fees, and processor markup as distinct parts of your card costs.
- Match the math. Compare APF or NABU totals with authorization counts and assessment charges with the relevant sales volume.
- Flag unexplained lines. Ask for an itemized explanation when a new network charge or duplicate fee appears on your statement.
Frequently asked questions
Are scheme fees the same as network fees?
Yes. Scheme fees is terminology used outside the US for charges card networks set for transaction services and other network programs. They are separate from interchange and processor markup.
Why does a US payment document say scheme fees?
A provider using UK or European terminology may call card networks card schemes and label their charges scheme fees. The wording describes network fees, not an additional fee category.