Interchange Rates 2026: Current Visa and Mastercard Tables

Current US interchange rates come from two schedules: Visa's, effective April 18, 2026, and Mastercard's, effective April 17, 2026. On consumer credit, the main in-store and online rows run from 1.51% to 2.60% plus 10 cents, depending on the card, and 3.15% plus 10 cents when a sale falls to the non-qualified or standard rate. Debit cards from large banks are capped by federal rule at 0.05% plus 21 cents, plus 1 cent for fraud prevention.

This page is the rate reference: the most common rows, copied from the network documents with their exact labels, and worked examples you can check with a calculator. For how a processor builds a price on top of these numbers, read what interchange-plus pricing is.

What interchange is, and what you actually pay

Interchange is the fee the merchant's bank pays the cardholder's bank (the issuer) on each card sale. Visa and Mastercard publish the rates; the issuer receives them. Visa's own schedule is blunt about who pays it: "Merchants do not pay interchange reimbursement fees; merchants pay merchant discount" to their financial institution.

So the rates below are not a price anyone quotes you. They are one part of the merchant discount your processor charges. The rest is network fees, which go to Visa or Mastercard, and the processor's own markup.

Two things the tables below do not cover. American Express works differently, so it has its own page on American Express interchange fees. And network fees are not in either schedule; your statement lists them separately, and our guide to reading a merchant statement shows where.

Current Visa credit card interchange rates

Visa's April 2026 schedule does not use CPS names for consumer credit, though it still does for debit. Its card-present table now lists rows such as Product 2, Restaurant 2 and Small Ticket, and its card-not-present table lists Product 1, Restaurant 1 and Recurring. The columns are six card products: Visa Infinite Spend Qualified, Visa Infinite Spend Not Qualified, Visa Signature Preferred, Visa Signature, Traditional Rewards and All Other Products.

Visa card-present credit rates

Small Ticket is 2.20% (min. $0.04) on the four Infinite and Signature columns and 1.90% (min. $0.04) on Traditional Rewards and All Other Products. Visa's schedule does not print a ticket-size limit for that row.

The lower Retail Credit-Performance Threshold rows (for example 1.43% + $0.10 on Traditional Rewards at Threshold I) are for very large merchants. Visa's criteria table sets the smallest tier, Threshold III, at 19.2 million transactions and $1.08 billion in volume over 12 months, with a maximum dispute ratio of 0.020% and PCI compliance. Supermarket tiers work the same way.

Visa card-not-present interchange rates

This is the table for online, phone and mail orders.

Visa also lists Card Not Present Incentives that come off the percentage: Type 1 is -0.05% (EMV Token transactions), Type 2 is -0.10% (Digital Commerce Authentication Program, or DCAP) and Type 3 is -0.15% (DCAP plus EMV Token). The schedule says they require CPS qualification, exclude Charity 1 and CPS/Utility, and are subject to change. For the fraud and liability side of remote sales, see our guide to card-not-present transactions.

Visa small merchant rates

Visa runs a separate Small Merchant Fee Program for merchants with no more than $280,000 in gross Visa consumer credit sales, based on 12 months ending September 30, 2024.

The schedule notes that a small merchant transaction that disqualifies from the program is assessed at the next applicable rate.

Worked example: one $60.00 Visa sale, three ways

A customer pays $60.00 with a Visa Traditional Rewards credit card.

1. In the store, card present (Product 2, 1.65% + $0.10): $60.00 × 0.0165 = $0.99, plus $0.10 = $1.09.
2. Online, card not present (Product 1, 2.04% + $0.10): $60.00 × 0.0204 = $1.224, plus $0.10 = $1.324, about $1.32.
3. Non-qualified (Non-Qualified Consumer Credit, 3.15% + $0.10): $60.00 × 0.0315 = $1.89, plus $0.10 = $1.99.

The same $60.00 on a regulated Visa debit card is 0.05% + $0.21: $60.00 × 0.0005 = $0.03, plus $0.21 = $0.24, plus $0.01 if the issuer has certified its fraud-prevention compliance = $0.25.

Current Mastercard credit card interchange rates

Mastercard's consumer credit table has five card levels: Core Value, Enhanced Value, World, World High Value and World Elite. A useful detail for anyone taking cards by phone or online: on consumer credit, Mastercard prints the same rate for Merit I, Key-entered and Full UCAF at every card level.

Mastercard's footnote says Small Ticket rates apply to transactions of $5 and below. Small Ticket Card-Not-Present runs 1.95%, 2.10%, 2.20%, 2.60% and 2.60%, each plus $0.02, across the same five levels. The lower Merit III and Supermarket tiers require very high annual volume (Merit III Tier 3 starts at $750 million in consumer credit volume) and a Mastercard-approved merchant ID. Some rows are tied to merchant category codes, such as Merit I for insurance (MCCs 5960 and 6300) and real estate (MCC 6513).

Debit card interchange: exempt vs regulated

Debit rates split in two. Under the Federal Reserve's Regulation II, a debit issuer that, with its affiliates, has total assets of $10 billion or more is covered by a cap. An issuer below $10 billion is exempt, and its cards earn the network's published exempt rates, which are higher.

The Regulation II cap (Durbin)

The Fed's rule limits a covered issuer's interchange to 21 cents plus 5 basis points (0.05%) of the transaction, plus up to 1 cent if the issuer meets the Fed's fraud-prevention standards. On a $50 sale that works out to 21 + 2.5 + 1 = 24.5 cents, the figure the Fed itself uses. In October 2023 the Board proposed lowering the cap; its proposal page gives May 12, 2024 as the comment deadline, and the Board's Regulation II page, as observed September 2026, lists no final rule on that proposal. The cap above is the one stated in the Fed's Regulation II compliance guide. This is general information, not legal advice.

Visa debit rates, exempt and regulated

Every regulated row carries Visa's footnote that certified issuers receive an additional $0.01.

Mastercard debit rates

For regulated cards, Mastercard lists Regulated POS Debit at 0.05% + $0.21 and Regulated POS Debit with Fraud Adjustment at 0.05% + $0.22. Our page on debit card processing fees covers PIN versus signature debit and routing.

Worked example: a $45.00 online order

A shopper checks out on your website for $45.00.

The premium card costs you about $1.03 more than the regulated debit card on the same order ($1.27 minus $0.24), and you do not choose which card the customer uses. If the World Elite sale fell to Standard instead, it would be $45.00 × 0.0315 = $1.4175, plus $0.10 = $1.5175, about $1.52.

What makes a sale land in Standard or Non-Qualified

Both networks publish a fallback rate that is higher than the rows above:

• Visa consumer credit: Non-Qualified Consumer Credit, 3.15% + $0.10, the same on all six card products.
• Mastercard consumer credit: Standard, 3.15% + $0.10, the same on all five card levels.
• Visa exempt debit: Electronic Interchange Reimbursement Fee (EIRF), Debit, at 1.75% + $0.20, and Standard Interchange Reimbursement Fee, Debit, at 1.90% + $0.25.
• Mastercard unregulated debit: Standard, 1.90% + $0.25.

Regulated debit works differently. Every regulated Visa row, fallback rows included, is 0.05% + $0.21, and Mastercard's regulated rows are 0.05% + $0.21 or $0.22 with the fraud adjustment.

The public schedules say little about why a sale drops. Visa's schedule refers readers to its U.S. Interchange Reimbursement Fee Rate Qualification Guide for complete details, and we could not find that guide in public form. What the rate tables themselves show:

• Card-not-present incentives apply only to transactions that meet CPS qualification.
• A small merchant transaction that fails the program's requirements moves to the next applicable rate.
• The Visa performance thresholds set a maximum dispute ratio of 0.020% and require PCI compliance.
• On cards issued outside the US, Visa's international table has a row actually labeled Downgrade: 1.65% on Visa Classic, Gold and Electron against 1.10% for Product Base.

If your statement shows many sales at 3.15% or at EIRF, ask your processor for the qualification reason on each.

Business and commercial cards

Commercial cards have their own tables. In Visa's corporate and purchasing card table, Commercial Card Present is 2.50% + $0.10, Commercial Card Not Present is 2.70% + $0.10 and Non-Qualified is 2.95% + $0.10. If you sell to other businesses, read our page on Level 2 and Level 3 processing before assuming those cards cost what consumer cards do.

From interchange rates to your actual cost

The tables show what the issuer receives. Your processor then adds network fees and its own markup, either as a visible line under interchange-plus pricing or folded into a flat or tiered rate. To see what your mix of cards and ticket sizes costs, run it through our credit card processing fee calculator, and compare the result with your statement.

If the effective rate on your statement is well above the interchange rows your sales should qualify for, the difference is markup and fallback rates. Payment USA offers a free statement review if you want a second set of eyes on those lines.

Sources

• Visa USA Interchange Reimbursement Fees, rates effective April 18, 2026, observed September 2026.
• Mastercard 2026-2027 U.S. Region Interchange Programs and Rates, effective April 17, 2026, linked from Mastercard merchant interchange rates, observed September 2026.
• Federal Reserve, Regulation II compliance guide (interchange fee standards and small issuer exemption), observed September 2026.
• Federal Reserve, Regulation II (Debit Card Interchange Fees and Routing), observed September 2026.
• Federal Reserve, October 25, 2023 press release on the proposal to lower the debit interchange cap, observed September 2026.
• Federal Reserve, Regulation II proposal details, observed September 2026.