Card Brand Network Fee Updates
Last updates
Changes effective November 2026
November 2026 - Interac Debit Switch Fee Changes
Effective November 1, 2026, the Interac Debit Switch fee will be increasing from $0.02099 CAD to $0.02144 CAD, representing a change of $0.000445 CAD. This fee is assessed by Interac on all Interac Debit payments and applies to both chip and PIN and contactless transactions.
Changes effective October 2026
October 2026 -Upcoming Changes to Visa Interchange Programs
Changes to Visa Threshold for Small Merchant Interchange Program
Effective October 24, 2026, the volume threshold for merchants to qualify for the Visa Small Business Interchange Program will be increased from less than $300,000 to less than CAD $750,000 in Visa credit, debit and prepaid volume annually.
Merchants will continue to be subject to an annual qualification assessment, conducted by Visa to determine merchant eligibility for the program.
The 12-month qualification period that Visa uses to assess merchants’ eligibility in the Program will be from October 1 (of the prior year) to September 30, each year.
Visa Interchange Program and Rate Changes
Effective October 24, 2026, Visa will also implement the following changes to selected domestic consumer credit interchange rates and standard business credit interchange rates:
| Product | Interchange Rate Program | Current Rate | New Rate |
|---|
| Product | Interchange Rate Program | Current Rate | New Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
Core Credit - Classic, Gold, Platinum | Small Merchant Electronic | 0.77% | 0.70% |
Small Merchant Card Not Present | 1.30% | 1.20% | |
Small Merchant Card Not Present Tokenized | 1.25% | 1.15% | |
Visa Infinite Credit | Small Merchant Electronic | 0.99% | 0.89% |
Small Merchant Card Not Present | 1.55% | 1.45% | |
Small Merchant Card Not Present Tokenized | 1.50% | 1.40% | |
Everyday Needs | 1.20% | 1.10% | |
Industry Program - Gas | 1.34% | 1.24% | |
Industry Program - Grocery and Food Retail | 1.15% | 1.05% | |
Visa Infinite+ Credit | Standard | 2.35% | 2.20% |
Small Merchant Card Not Present | 2.20% | 2.05% | |
Small Merchant Card Not Present Tokenized | 2.15% | 2.00% | |
Performance Program Card Not Present | 2.25% | 2.10% | |
Performance Program Card Not Present Tokenized | 2.20% | 2.05% | |
Card Not Present | 2.30% | 2.15% | |
Card Not Present Tokenized | 2.25% | 2.10% | |
Visa Infinite Privilege Credit | Small Merchant Electronic | 1.80% | 1.70% |
Small Merchant Card Not Present | 2.30% | 2.20% | |
Small Merchant Card Not Present Tokenized | 2.25% | 2.15% | |
Everyday Needs | 1.95% | 1.85% | |
Industry Program - Gas | 1.95% | 1.85% | |
Industry Program - Grocery and Food Retail | 1.95% | 1.85% | |
Visa Business Credit | Standard | 2.00% | 2.15% |
These fee changes will appear on merchants’ October statements.
October 2026 - Upcoming Introduction of Mastercard Acquirer Network Access and Brand Usage (NABU) Fee and Discontinuation of the Mastercard Acquirer Clearing Fees
Effective October 19, 2026, the following updates will take place:
Domestic Transactions
$0.0195
Foreign Transactions
$0.0295
Domestic Authorization Reversals
$0.0098
Foreign Authorization Reversals
$0.0148
Discontinuance of the following Mastercard Acquirer Clearing Fees:
Mastercard Acquirer Clearing Small Ticket
$0.005
$0.00
Mastercard Acquirer Clearing Large Ticket
$0.0195
$0.00
The fee changes will appear on the October 2026 merchant statements.
Changes effective July 2026
July 2026 - Update to Acquiring Cross Border Assessment Fees
Mastercard has announced a change to its Cross-Border Assessment Fees applicable in Canada. Effective July 20, 2026, the assessment rate applicable to certain non-Dynamic Currency Conversion (non-DCC) cross-border Mastercard transactions will increase from 60 basis points (bps) to 100 basis points (bps).
2DN1400
Acquirer Cross-border Purchase
60 bps
100 bps
2DN1401
Acquirer Cross-border ATM Cash Advance
60 bps
100 bps
2DN5200
Acquirer Cross-border Mastercard Debit Switch Purchase
60 bps
100 bps
2DN5201
Acquirer Cross-border Mastercard Debit Switch
60 bps
100 bps
Changes effective June 2026
June 2026 - Upcoming Changes to Network Registration Fee Notice
Effective June 1, 2026, the following updates will apply:
Mastercard Specialty Merchant Registration Program Fee
Current Annual Fee: $500 USD
New Annual Fee: $1,000 USD
This fee will be billed as $1,500 CAD on your account anniversary date.
Visa Integrity Risk Program Fee
The following change to the VIRP Fee will also apply:
Current Annual Fee: $1,400 CAD
New Annual Fee: $1,500 CAD
This fee will be billed as $1,500 CAD on your account anniversary date.
Changes effective May 2026
May 2026 - Updating the Digital Enablement Fee in Canada
Effective 25 May 2026, the Digital Enablement Fee structure will be changed, the updated Digital Enablement Fee will become effective 25 May 2026 with the first Billing occurring on 31 May 2026:
2AN3414P
Acquirer Digital Enablement Fee
Minimum of 0.02, applicable to transactions less than or equal to 100
Minimum of 0.02, applicable to transactions less than or equal to 100
Weekly
2AN3414
Acquirer Digital Enablement Fee
0.0002 times the value of authorization
0.0002 times the value of authorization, applicable to transactions greater than 100 and less than 10M
Weekly
2AN3414Q
Acquirer Digital Enablement Fee
0.0002 times the value of authorization, applicable to transactions more than or equal to 1,000
Fixed fee of 2,000, applicable to transactions greater than or equal to 10M
Weekly
Changes effective April 2026
April 2026 - Introduction of New Consumer Visa Infinite Plus Credit Product
Effective April 18, 2026, Visa is introducing a new consumer Visa Infinite Plus Credit Product.
New interchange program rates will apply.
Performance – Card-Present
1.55%
Performance Card-Not-Present – Token
2.20%
Performance Card-Not-Present
2.25%
Small Merchant Electronic
1.05%
Industry Fee Programs – Gas Industry
1.50%
Industry Fee Programs – Grocery and Food Retail Industry
1.30%
Everyday Needs – Restaurant
1.35%
Everyday Needs – Other
1.35%
Emerging Segments – Preferred
1.25%
Emerging Segments
1.45%
Electronic
1.60%
Recurring Payments – Token
1.90%
Recurring Payments
1.95%
Small Merchant Card Not Present – Token
2.15%
Small Merchant Card Not Present
2.20%
Card-Not-Present – Token
2.25%
Card-Not-Present
2.30%
Standard
2.35%
Industry Fee Programs – Utilities Industry
CAD $0.75
April 2026 - Revision of Visa System Integrity Fee
Effective 25 April 2026 Visa will revise the System Integrity Fee (SIF) assessed for noncompliant international authorization reattempts for Category 1 response code declines and excessive reattempts after Category 2, 3 and 4 response code declines.
The revised System Integrity Fees are presented in the table below.
Issuer Will Never Approve - Reattempt(International)
$0.15 USD
$0.25 USD
Excess Reattempted Transactions(International)
$0.15 USD
$0.25 USD
Changes effective February 2026
February 2026 - Introduction of Mastercard Transaction Processing Excellence (TPE) Network Fees
Effective January 2025 , Mastercard introduced Transaction Processing Excellence (TPE) network fees applicable to certain non-compliant transactions (such as excessive authorizations or uncleared pre-authorizations) which are classified as Network Assessment Fees.
These fees are imposed directly by Mastercard at the network level and apply only to transactions that do not meet Mastercard’s processing requirements. They are not PayFacto-imposed fees.
PayFacto will begin passing through these Mastercard network assessment fees effective February 2026 in accordance with the Interchange Plus (IC+) pricing structure. If your authorization and settlement practices are compliant, these fees will not impact your account.
MC CAN Excessive Authorization Attempts
Fee for each authorization after 10 previously declined attempts on the same account number and card acceptor within a 24-hour period, or exceeding 35 declined attempts (same account, acceptor, and amount) within 30 days.
USD 0.0035 per excess declined auth
MC Excessive Authorization Attempts
Global version of excessive declined authorization attempts beyond Mastercard thresholds.
USD 0.0035 (where applicable)
MC Nominal Amount Authorization
Applied to small-dollar authorization attempts that do not comply with Mastercard’s authorization validity requirements (typically micro-auth misuse).
Varies (TPE-related)
MC Undefined Authorization
Processing integrity fee for transactions ≥ USD 14.29 identified as undefined authorizations (no proper final state).
USD 0.004
MC Preauthorization (≥ USD 14.29)
Applied when pre-authorizations are not cleared or fully reversed within 30 calendar days.
USD 0.004
MC Preauthorization (< USD 14.29)
(< USD 14.29) Same as above but for transactions under USD 14.29.
USD 0.10
MC Final Authorization (≥ USD 14.29)
Integrity fee for non-compliant final authorizations that do not meet clearing or processing requirements.
USD 0.004
MC Final Auth Minimum (< USD 14.29)
Applied when non-compliant final authorization is less than USD 14.29.
USD 0.10
MC CA Authorization Validity Usage
Applied when the acquirer does not submit clearing within 24 hours of final authorization approval. Fee assessed based on delay duration.
CAD 0.3%
MC Authorization Validation Fee
Applied to non-financial ($0 transaction) validation authorizations.
CAD 0.0339%
Changes effective January 2026
January 2026 - Card Brand Fee Currency Conversion
Effective January 22, 2026, our processing partner will implement updates to its billing system. As part of this enhancement, card brand fees assessed in Canada will be converted from U.S. dollars (USD) to Canadian dollars (CAD). This applies only to merchants who are processing in CAD and are on Interchange Plus pricing.
What’s Changing
Per-item card brand fees assessed in Canada will now be converted from USD to CAD.
Minimums, maximums, and threshold amounts set by card brands will also be converted.
This enhancement applies specifically to per-item card brand fees set in USD but applied to Canadian transactions settling in CAD.
How the Conversion Works
Currency conversion will occur once daily using the most current rates from Visa and Mastercard.
Mastercard rates will apply to Mastercard transactions.
Visa rates will apply to Visa, Discover, and American Express transactions.
The conversion applies only to the calculated per-item card brand fee.
Changes effective November 2025
November 2025 - Interac Debit Switch Fee Change
November 1, 2025 - The Interac Debit Switch Fee will be increased from $0.019851 to $0.02099, a difference of $0.001139. This fee is assessed on all Interac Debit payments and applies to both chip and PIN and contactless transactions
Changes effective October 2025
October 2025 - Reduction of Visa Small Merchant Electronic Fee
October 18, 2025, The Visa Small Merchant Electronic Fee Program interchange rate for Visa’s core consumer credit products will be reduced from 0.81% to 0.77% (a reduction of 0.04%). This reduced interchange rate will apply to Visa Classic, Visa Gold, and Visa Platinum products. Note this is a pass-through fee imposed by Visa to all applicable transactions
October 2025 - Introduction of Mastercard Wholesale Travel Program Interchange Rates
October 18, 2025, Mastercard is introducing new interchange rates for the Mastercard Wholesale Travel Program globally and for intraregional transaction in the U.S. region. The new interchange rates will apply to the following business-to-business (B2B) product codes:
Global Program Rates
Interchange Rate Designator (IRD)
Product Code
Product Description
Rate
BB: Commercial Business-to-Business
MTN
Mastercard B2B Product 20
2.0%
BB: Commercial Business-to-Business
MTO
Mastercard B2B Product 21
2.0%
BB: Commercial Business-to-Business
MTQ
Mastercard B2B Product 22
2.0%
Intraregional U.S. Transaction Rates
Interchange Rate Designator (IRD)
Product Code
Product Description
Rate
BU: U.S. Commerical Business-to-Business
MTN
Mastercard B2B Product 20
2.7%
BU: U.S. Commerical Business-to-Business
MTO
Mastercard B2B Product 21
2.6%
BU: U.S. Commerical Business-to-Business
MTQ
Mastercard B2B Product 22
2.5%
Changes effective September 2025
September 2025 – Introduction of Mastercard Acquirer License Fee
September 1, 2025, PayFacto will begin applying the pass-through Mastercard Acquirer License Fee of 0.0095%. This fee is assessed by Mastercard on all processed transactions.
September 2025 – Introduction of Mastercard Acquirer Clearing Fee
September 15, 2025, Mastercard is introducing the Mastercard Clearing Fee, which will apply to all Mastercard transactions processed. The fee will be passed-through to all merchants at $0.005 USD for each transaction less than or equal to $25.00 USD, and $0.0195 USD for each transaction that is $25.01 USD or greater.
Changes effective July 2025
July 2025: Updates to Mastercard Acquirer Assessment Fee
The Mastercard Acquirer Assessment Fee with increase from 0.087% to 0.09% (a difference of 0.003%) as of July 1st, 2025. Merchants can cancel their agreements related to the provision of Card processing, including Related Service Agreements, without any form of penalty, by September 9th, 2025. Contact our Support Team or consult the Merchant Portal for more information on how to cancel your services.
July 2025: Updates to the Mastercard Wholesale Travel Program
The Mastercard Wholesale Travel Program rates will increase from 0.60% to 0.75% (a difference of 0.15%) as of July 1st, 2025. Merchants can cancel their agreements related to the provision of Card processing, including Related Service Agreements, without any form of penalty, by September 9th, 2025. Contact our Support Team or consult the Merchant Portal for more information on how to cancel your services.
Changes effective April 2025
April 2025: Introduction of an Interac Network Access Fee
As of April 1st, 2025, an “Interac Network Access” fee of $0.0058/transaction will be applicable on Interac Direct Debit and Interac Flash transactions.
Changes to Visa Prepaid Interchange structure effective April 2025
April 2025: The following Visa Business Interchange rates go into effect April 12, 2025
Rate Program
Business
Visa Infinite Business
Standard
2.00% (no change)
2.35%
Electronic
Retired
Retired
Emerging Segments
Retired
Retired
Industry Program – Gas
Retired
Retired
Industry Program – Grocery
Retired
Retired
Performance Program – Card-Present
Retired
Retired
Recurring Payments
Retired
Retired
Visa Domestic Consumer Purchase Prepaid Rate Program Updates
Interchange Program
Current Interchange Rate
Updates effective April 12, 2025
Standard
1.52%
No change
Electronic
1.42%
No change
Card Not Present
1.52%
Retired
Recurring Payments
1.37%
Retired
Emerging Segments
0.98%
Retired
Everyday Needs Program - Restaurant and Other
1.36%
Retired
Industry Program - Grocery and
Food Retail
1.23%
Retired
Industry Program - Gas
1.18%
Retired
Performance Program – Card Present Electronic Program
1.32%
Retired
Visa Debit Interchange rates - changes are effective from January 1st, 2025
Rate Program
Visa Debit
Electronic
CAD 0.03
Performance Program – Card Present Electronic Program
CAD 0.03
Industry Program - Gas
CAD 0.03
Industry Program - Grocery
CAD 0.03
October 2024 - Changes to Visa and Mastercard Interchange Programs
Effective October 19th 2024, Visa and Mastercard Small Merchant Interchange Rate Programs for domestic consumer credit transactions will go into effect. Merchants will be qualified directly by Visa and Mastercard on eligibility for the new rates based on the following criteria:
Merchants processing up to $175,000 in annual Mastercard credit-only volume.
Merchants processing up to $300,000 in annual Visa credit, debit, and prepaid volume.
A merchant that processes both Visa and Mastercard may qualify for reduced rates on one or both card brands. The Initial qualification period for Visa and Mastercard will be Apr 1, 2023, to Mar 31, 2024, and the subsequent qualification periods will be October 1 to September 30 each year.
For the rates, see the tabs below
For more details and exceptions visit Visa.ca and Mastercard.ca
Visa Small Business Interchange Program Rates
Rate Program
Classic, Gold, Platinum
Infinite
VISA Infinite Privilege
Card Present
0.81%
0.99%
1.80%
Card Not Present (Tokenized)
1.25%
1.50%
2.25%
Card Not Present
1.30%
1.55%
2.30%
Mastercard Small Business Interchange Program Rates
Interchange Program Type
Core
World
World Elite
Muse
Card Present EMV
0.72%
0.95%
1.22%
1.29%
Unsecure Card Present
0.95%
1.19%
1.45%
1.52%
Digital Commerce
1.57%
1.80%
2.03%
2.15%
Contactless
0.72%
0.95%
1.22%
1.29%
3DS
1.40%
1.60%
1.80%
1.93%
Card Present Refund
0.43%
0.57%
0.73%
0.77%
Card Not Present Refund
0.96%
1.10%
1.24%
1.33%
November 2024: Interac Debit Switch Fee Change
November 1, 2024 - Notice of Interac Debit Switch Fee Change Effective November 1, 2024, the Interac Debit Switch Fee will be increased from $0.018380 to $0.019851.
April 2024: Interac Debit Switch Fee Reduction
Effective April 1st 2024 the Interac Switch Fee for all Interac Debit card present transactions will be lowered from $0.01985 to $0.01838.
The new rate will appear on the April merchant statements.
April 2024: New Visa CVV2 - Fee
Effective April 1, 2024, Visa will begin charging a Card Verification Value 2 (CVV2) fee of 0.0028 USD for every CVV2 result that receives an M (Match) or N (No Match). Positive matches may result in a higher approval rate, reduced chances of fraud, as well as fewer disputes.
The CVV2 fee will not apply to the following conditions:
· Verification results not received by the bank due to an error
· Returned values that are not M or N
· Successful 3DS verifications
· Zero-amount account verification messages
January 2024: New Interac Surcharge Cap Maximum
Important Notice: New Interac Surcharge Cap Maximum Effective January 26th, 2024
Effective January 26, 2024, Interac is introducing a surcharge cap maximum of$0.25 per transaction on point-of-sale transactions and is prohibiting the capability to impose a surcharge on remote transactions using the Interac Mobile Debit (In-App/In-Browser). Interac Debit surcharge continues to be unavailable in Quebec.
Last updated
Was this helpful?