*Updated fee; the remaining fees are new.
The card networks (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, etc.) introduce and make updates to their operating rules throughout the year. Most of the changes come during two release periods -- Spring and Fall.
These network updates typically include fee introductions or updates, new mandates, new features, program changes, or updates to existing features.
While many of the updates require no action for merchants, some updates can require integration changes, fee impact, or forced adoption of services.
PayPal Braintree teams have worked together to identify the key updates for October 2026 and beyond and these updates are below. The updates provide the nature of the update (fee change, mandate, new feature/update), the network implementing the change, and the regions in scope.
NOTE: The information in this document is accurate as of September 2026, provided for informational purposes, subject to change, and may not apply to all merchants or transactions.
Scheme | Name | Type | Geographic Impact | Effective Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Visa | Visa Acquiring Monitoring Program | Program | Global | 4/1/26 |
Visa | Visa Introduction of Digital Commerce Services Fee in Canada | Fee Change | CA | 6/1/26 |
Mastercard | Mastercard Specialty Merchant Registration Program Fees | Fee Change | EU, CA, AP-LAC-US, JP | Varies |
Visa | Visa Interchange Modifications and Small Merchant Eligibility | Fee Change | CA | 6/25/26 |
Mastercard | Mastercard Revised 3DS and MDES Pricing for Europe | Fee Change | EU | 7/1/26, 7/13/26 |
Mastercard | Mastercard Revising Acquirer Cross-Border Assessment Fees in Canada | Fee Change | CA | 7/20/26 |
Visa | Visa New AFT Fee and Client-to-Client Program | Fee Change | EU | 10/1/26 |
Mastercard | Mastercard Introducing Not Reversed or Cleared Preauthorization TPE in Europe | Fee Change | EU | 10/1/26 |
Mastercard | Mastercard Revised Authorization Acquirer Exemption Indicator Fee | Fee Change | EU, UK | 10/12/26 |
Visa | Visa Acquirer Network Access and Brand Usage Fee in Canada | Fee Change | CA | 10/19/26 |
Visa | Visa Digital Commerce Authentication Program in Canada | Fee Change | CA | 10/24/26 |
Mastercard | Mastercard Transaction Link Identifier | Program Change | Global | 12/1/26 |
Mastercard | Mastercard Revised Pricing for Customer Performance Development Fund in EU & UK/Ireland | Fee Change | EU, UK/Ireland | 1/1/27 |
Visa | Visa Introducing Digital Commerce Services Fee in EU | Fee Change | EU | 4/1/27 |
PROGRAM CHANGE | VISA | GLOBAL
Effective Date: April 1, 2026
Merchant Impact: Awareness of new VAMP Ratios Widget.
Visa launched the Visa Acquiring Monitoring Program in April 2026 which introduced a new VAMP ratio combining fraud and dispute rates. As a result, PayPal has built a VAMP Ratios Widget which gives merchants and internal teams real-time visibility into card-not-present (CNP) fraud and dispute performance against Visa’s updated thresholds.
The widget surfaces key ratios using Visa TC40 (undisputed fraud) and TC15 (all disputes) data relative to settled transactions, displayed as weekly and monthly trend charts with descriptor-level and acquirer-level filtering. Please contact your account manager to learn more.
FEE CHANGE | VISA | CA
Effective Date: June 1, 2026
Merchant Impact: Awareness of per-auth fee increase; several services will no longer be billed separately.
Effective June 1, 2026, Visa is introducing the Digital Commerce Services Fee (DCSF) in Canada. The fee applies to all card-not-present (CNP) authorizations.
The following services are added to the DCSF and will no longer be billed separately:
Effective Date | Domestic | Min | Cross Border | Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
6/1/26 | 1.50bps | $0.01 | 3.5bps | $0.01 |
4/1/27 | 2.25bps | $0.0125 | 5.25bps | $0.0125 |
Our Take & What It Means For You
FEE CHANGE | VISA | CA
Effective Date: June 25, 2026
Merchant Impact: Awareness of updated interchange rates and expanded Small Merchant Interchange Program eligibility.
Visa is updating domestic Consumer and Business Credit interchange rates in Canada. Rates are generally decreasing between 0.07%-0.10% for Consumer Credit and increasing up to 0.15% for Business Credit.
Visa is also expanding merchant eligibility for Canada's Small Merchant Interchange Program by raising the maximum annual Visa sales threshold:
Our Take & What It Means For You
FEE CHANGE | VISA | EU
Effective Date: October 1, 2026
Merchant Impact: Awareness of new flat fee for AFTs in Europe.
Effective October 1, 2026, Visa will introduce a Consumer Funding Fee applicable to Account Funding Transactions (AFTs), including wallet top-ups, prepaid card loads, remittances, and funding of financial, cash, or fiat currency accounts.
The fee does not apply to card-to-card (card fronting) back-to-back funding AFTs.
Jurisdiction | Transaction Currency | Account Funding Source | BAIs | New Consumer Fund Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Europe – Domestic | All | Consumer Debit and Prepaid only | AA, PP, BI, TU, WT, FT | EUR 0.01 |
Intra-EEA | Euro only | Consumer Debit and Prepaid only | AA, PP, BI, TU, WT, FT | EUR 0.01 |
Visa is also introducing the Consumer Funding Acceleration Program (CFAP) for AFTs. This program introduces interchange rates for AFTs that meet certain criteria. Client-To-Client fee is a interchange for AFTs and OCTs.
Jurisdiction | Transaction Currency | Account Funding Source | BAIs | New Consumer Fund Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Europe Region Domestic (excluding UK, Israel, Turkiye) | All | Consumer Debit and Prepaid only | AA, PP, BI, TU, WT, FT | Tokenized: 0.20% (capped at EUR 0.04) Non-Tokenized: 0.20% (capped at EUR 0.07) |
Intra-EEA | Euro only | Consumer Debit and Prepaid only | AA, PP, BI, TU, WT, FT | Tokenized: 0.20% (capped at EUR 0.04) Non-Tokenized: 0.20% (capped at EUR 0.07) |
Our Take & What It Means For You
FEE CHANGE | VISA | CA
Effective Date: October 19, 2026
Merchant Impact: Awareness of new fee that can apply twice on an authorization reversal.
Visa is replacing the current Acquirer Clearing fee with the Acquirer Network Access and Brand Usage (NABU) fee in Canada. The fee is charged at authorization.
The prior Acquirer Clearing Fee:
Our Take & What It Means For You
FEE CHANGE | VISA | CA
Effective Date: October 24, 2026
Merchant Impact: Awareness of new interchange incentive program and associated fee.
The Digital Commerce Authentication Program (DCAP) is an optional program that provides Consumer Credit interchange incentives for qualified Consumer Credit CNP transactions in Canada. Transactions must be tokenized and share the following enhanced data:
Consumer Credit CNP transactions meeting DCAP requirements will qualify for an interchange incentive of 10bps. A new Enhanced Data Program fee of 5bps will also apply. Enhanced data can be sent using 3DS Data Only rails, an API connection, or the Visa Token Service.
Our Take & What It Means For You
FEE CHANGE | VISA | EU
Effective Date: April 1, 2027
Merchant Impact: Awareness of new flat fee replacing several individually billed services.
Visa is introducing the Digital Commerce Services Fee (DCSF) in the EU. The fee is charged on all authorizations. Visa will cease charging for the following services individually and instead charge a flat fee:
New Fee Name | Fee Jurisdiction | New Fee (per auth) |
|---|---|---|
Digital Commerce Services Fee | Group A | 2.25 bps |
Digital Commerce Services Fee | Group B | 10 bps |
Our Take & What It Means For You
FEE CHANGE | MASTERCARD | EU, CA, AP-LAC-US, JP
Effective Dates: Varies by region — see table below
Merchant Impact: Awareness of updated and new per-transaction fees for high-risk merchants.
Mastercard is updating an existing fee and introducing new Specialty Merchant Registration Program fees:
Fee Type | Fee Jurisdiction | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
Specialty Merchant Registration* | $1,000 | Annual per merchant |
Specialty Merchant Transaction Fee | $0.02 | Per Transaction |
Specialty Merchant Volume Fee | 10bps | Per Transaction |
Effective dates by region:
Region | Effective Date |
|---|---|
CA | 6/1/26 |
AP-LAC-US | 6/3/26 |
EU | 9/28/26 |
JP | 1/1/29 |
Our Take & What It Means For You
FEE CHANGE | MASTERCARD | EU
Effective Dates: July 1, 2026; July 13, 2026
Merchant Impact: Awareness of standardized rates replacing prior country-specific pricing.
Beginning July 1, 2026, Mastercard is standardizing rates for 3DS and MDES authentication in most European countries. The new rate replaces country-specific rates with a single, transparent set of rates, with a low cap on declined transactions of EUR 1,000 and a high cap on approved transactions of EUR 10,000.
Fee | Dom + Intra | Inter |
|---|---|---|
MDES Authentication | 1.8bps | 3.6bps |
3DS | 1.8bps | 3.6bps |
MDES/3DS Max – Approved | 1.8 EUR | 3.6 EUR |
MDES/3DS Max – Declined | 0.18 EUR | 0.36 EUR |
Our Take & What It Means For You
FEE CHANGE | MASTERCARD | CA
Effective Date: July 20, 2026
Merchant Impact: Awareness of standardized cross-border assessment fees.
Effective July 20, 2026, Mastercard is updating rates for non-Dynamic Currency Conversion (non-DCC) Cross-Border volume assessments for acquirers to align with current DCC Cross-Border Assessment rates in Canada. This change standardizes the Acquirer Cross-Border Assessment.
The current cross border fee is 60bps if the Issuer performs the FX, and 100bps if the Merchant performs the FX using DCC, thus disincentivizing Merchants from performing DCC. The fee will now be 100bps regardless of whether Merchant or Issuer performs the FX.
Billing Event Name | Current Rate | New Rate |
|---|---|---|
Acquirer Cross-border purchase | 60bps | 100bps |
Acquirer Cross-border Mastercard Debit Switch Purchase | 60bps | 100bps |
Acquirer Cross-border Mastercard Debit Switch | 60bps | 100bps |
Our Take & What It Means For You
FEE CHANGE | MASTERCARD | EU
Effective Date: October 1, 2026
Merchant Impact: Awareness of new fee.
Mastercard is introducing the Not Reversed or Cleared Preauthorization TPE program in Europe. The fee applies when an approved preauthorization is not cleared or fully reversed within 30 calendar days from the authorization date.
Transaction Amount | Fee |
|---|---|
Greater than or equal to EUR 12.00 | 28bps |
Less than EUR 12.00 | EUR 0.033 |
Our Take & What It Means For You
FEE CHANGE | MASTERCARD | EU & UK
Effective Date: October 12, 2026
Merchant Impact: Awareness of revised fee structure with new carve-outs.
Mastercard is updating the pricing and billing parameters of the SCA exemption indicator. The fee will apply to both approved and declined transactions.
Current fee: EUR 0.02
Updated fee structure:
For Domestic and Intraregional transactions, the fee applies to all exemptions except MIT, recurring, SCP (Secure Corporate Payment), and AOE (Authentication Outage Exception).
For Interregional transactions, the fee only applies to low-risk TRA, LVP (low value payments), and SCA delegation.
Our Take & What It Means For You
PROGRAM CHANGE | MASTERCARD | GLOBAL
Effective Date: December 1, 2026
Merchant Impact: Awareness of new mandatory transaction identifier.
Mastercard is introducing a new transaction identifier called the Transaction Link Identifier (TLID). Mastercard will generate and populate the TLID, and it must be carried throughout the lifecycle of the transaction. The enforcement mechanism is Data Integrity Edit 26 – Transaction Link ID 1240, with the following timeline:
Our Take & What It Means For You
FEE CHANGE | MASTERCARD | EU, UK/IRELAND
Effective Date: January 1, 2027
Merchant Impact: Awareness of four rate changes phased in over three years, aimed at driving tokenization and authentication.
Effective January 1, 2027, Mastercard is revising pricing for the Customer Performance Development Fund (CPDF) in Europe and in the UK/Ireland. There are four changes phased in over three years. In April 2028, Guest Checkout will be included in the non-token fee in addition to Card on File (CoF); this fee will be renamed Not Tokenized Card Not Present (CNP).
Our Take & What It Means For You
Year | Scope | Germany Dom/Intra | Germany Inter | Rest of Europe Dom/Intra | Rest of Europe Inter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Current | CoF | 7bps (cap €70 – decline only) | — | 5bps (cap €50) | — |
Jan 2027 | CoF | 7bps (cap €70) | 10bps (cap €100) | 5bps (cap €25) | 10bps (cap €100) |
Apr 2028 | CoF + Guest Checkout (CNP) | 2.5bps (cap €25) | 10bps (cap €100) | 2.5bps (cap €25) | 10bps (cap €100) |
Apr 2029 | CNP | 3.5bps (cap €35) | 10bps (cap €100) | 3.5bps (cap €35) | 10bps (cap €100) |
Apr 2030 | CNP | 5bps (cap €50) | 10bps (cap €100) | 5bps (cap €50) | 10bps (cap €100) |
Year | Germany | Rest of Europe |
|---|---|---|
Current | 4bps (cap €40) – decline only | Selected rates |
Jan 2027 | 5bps (cap €50) | 5bps (cap €50) |
Year | Scope | Dom/Intra | Inter | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Current | CoF | 2.5bps (cap €25) | 2.5bps (cap €25) | Ireland only |
Jan 2027 | CoF | 2bps (cap €25) | 10bps (cap €100) | Ireland; UK (introduced) |
Apr 2028 | CoF + Guest Checkout (CNP) | 2.5bps (cap €25) | 10bps (cap €100) | IE & UK |
Apr 2029 | CNP | 3.5bps (cap €35) | 10bps (cap €100) | |
Apr 2030 | CNP | 5bps (cap €50) | 10bps (cap €100) |
Year | UK | Ireland |
|---|---|---|
Current | N/A | 3bps (cap €30) |
Jan 2027 | 5bps (cap €50) | 5bps (cap €50) |