What is the interchange fee cap in Europe?

Under the EU Interchange Fee Regulation, interchange on consumer cards is capped at 0.2% of the transaction for debit cards and 0.3% for credit cards. Member States can set lower caps for domestic transactions.

What the caps cover

The caps apply to consumer cards issued and used in the European Economic Area. They do not cover every card: commercial cards are outside the caps, and transactions with cards issued outside Europe follow different rules set by the schemes.

What this means in practice

• Cross-border payments with cards issued outside the region usually carry higher interchange.
• Premium and commercial cards can cost merchants more than consumer cards.
• Scheme fees and acquirer margins come on top of capped interchange.

Why the details matter

Because caps cover only part of a merchant's card mix, two merchants with the same volume can face very different costs. Knowing the mix of domestic, regional and international cards is what makes pricing predictable.

What it means for payment operators

For platforms pricing European merchants, the cap is a floor, not the whole cost. Reconciliation that maps provider fees into one model, and analytics that split cost by card origin, card type and provider, show where costs sit and help you set merchant pricing that holds as their card mix changes.