IXOPAY releases AI Payments Intelligence: Get Payments Insights here!

Payment Knowledge Hub /
Scheme Fees

Scheme Fees

Key scheme fees to have more control and visibility over your costs.

Acquirer Clearing Fee Mastercard fee for processing and clearing transactions across its network.

Global Wholesale Travel Transaction Fee A Mastercard fee applied to wholesale travel transactions, often significant (1.57%–3.75%).

Mastercard Authorization Optimizer Service Fee Mastercard fee ($0.02) for declined card-not-present attempts, supporting AI tools for smarter retries.

Mastercard Integrity Fee - Final Authorizations Mastercard fee when final authorizations are not cleared or reversed in time, or when mismatched to settlement.

Mastercard Merchant Advice Code Fee Charged when merchants retry insufficient funds transactions despite receiving a Merchant Advice Code. Fees vary by region.

Mastercard Merchant Location Fee A $1.25 monthly fee per active merchant location in the U.S., with exemptions for nonprofits and low-volume merchants.

Mastercard Token Validation and Lifecycle Services Fee - CNP International Mastercard fee for token validation and lifecycle services in international card-not-present transactions.

Mastercard TPE Excessive Authorizations Fee Charged for excessive authorization attempts on a single card. Typically invoiced with a two-month delay.

Non-Transactional Scheme Fees They might be or might not be tied to individual transactions. These appear on monthly invoices with a billing delay (1–2 months). Examples include Visa FANF and Mastercard Merchant Location Fee.

Pre-authorization Fee Applied to Mastercard preauthorized transactions.

Transactional Scheme Fees Charged per transaction and deducted directly from settlement. Examples include authorization fees, processing fees, and cross-border fees.

Visa & Mastercard 3D Secure Fees Charged for 3D Secure authentication requests in the EU and GB, based on scheme monthly reports.

Visa Account Verification Optional Visa transaction type to check account status before authorization.

Visa FANF (Fixed Acquirer Network Fee) A monthly fee in the U.S. based on merchant locations, MCC, and sales volume. Ranges from $2 to $100+ per Taxpayer ID.

Visa Misuse of Authorization Fee Fee for failing to settle or reverse authorizations in time. From Jan 2025, $0.15 per U.S. transaction.

Visa Stop Payment Service Repeat Authorization Decline Fee for declined authorizations with specific response codes (R0, R1, R3), reported to issuers.

Visa System Integrity Fee Includes Excessive Retry and Data Quality Fees. Calculated from transaction history and invoiced with a delay.

Visa System Integrity Fee - Never Approve Fee when merchants retry “Never Approve” declines (invalid, blocked, or closed cards).

Visa Unmatched Clearing Fee Non-compliance fee when a clearing transaction cannot be matched to an approved authorization.

Track Your Payment KPIs Automatically

Let IXOPAY's platform monitor your payment KPIs instantly, with AI-powered alerts and recommendations to improve performance.

The Future is Agentic.
Are You Ready?

As commerce shifts from clicks to agents, your infrastructure must be protocol-agnostic. IXOPAY acts as the neutral trust layer, orchestrating identity and value across the fragmenting landscape of AI agent protocols.