Interchange is the fee your customer's bank keeps. For consumer cards inside the UK it is capped, which means nobody can quote you a higher number for it and call it their price.
0.2% of the transaction on consumer debit cards, including prepaid. 0.3% on consumer credit cards. The caps apply when the merchant, the acquirer and the card issuer are all in the UK.
Split last month's card turnover into UK consumer debit, UK consumer credit, commercial and cross-border. Apply 0.2% and 0.3% to the first two. The rest of your bill has nothing to do with interchange.
Four rows cover almost every sale you take. Two are capped by law. The other two are where a cheap-looking quote quietly turns expensive.
| Card | Cap | Applies when |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer debit, including prepaid | 0.2% of the transaction | Merchant, acquirer and issuer all in the UK |
| Consumer credit | 0.3% of the transaction | Merchant, acquirer and issuer all in the UK |
| Commercial and corporate cards | No consumer cap | A business customer paying on a company card |
| Cross-border consumer cards | Outside the UK caps | A card issued outside the UK, including the EEA |
In force since 9 December 2015, retained in UK law after EU withdrawal. The caps move when the regulation moves, which is rarely.