Visa and Mastercard set up to raise credit card fees

Reportedly, much of the increase comes from the exchange fee. This is the number of fees charged by card-providing systems that merchants must pay when they accept credit card payments from buyers. This fee will then go to the bank that issued the card.

Although ‘invisible’ to the buyer, the exchange fee is a concern of the sellers. In recent years, they have increased as credit cards with rewards become more popular, but it is learned that they often have high fees to offset travel and other incentives. Taking this into consideration, the card issuer network has a policy of ‘accepting all cards’, meaning that once a buyer has accepted a Visa card issued by one bank, it must also accept Visa cards from all banks.

The raised fees at Visa and Mastercard will apply to online purchases made with credit cards, according to the Wall Street Journal. A Visa spokesperson said merchants can avoid these fees if they provide accurate transaction data and use token services that help keep their card numbers secure.

Mastercard representatives explained that the company will reduce costs for merchants with transactions under USD 5 and related to hotel, catering, healthcare, and other industries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Visa stated it will be reducing the surcharge for online and merchant payments with an annual payment of USD 250,000 or less.