Who chooses the scheme on a co-badged card in the EU?

Both parties have a say. Under the EU Interchange Fee Regulation, the merchant can set a preferred brand at checkout, while the cardholder keeps the right to choose another one. For an operator, that turns scheme selection into a routing and pricing decision, made per card, amount and market, and the checkout has to present the choice clearly.

A shared decision

Co-badged cards carry two brands, typically a domestic scheme and Visa or Mastercard. The EU Interchange Fee Regulation settles who picks: the merchant may set a preferred brand at the point of sale, and the cardholder may override it. Neither side can block the other's choice.

Why it is a routing and pricing question

• Each brand has its own interchange and scheme fees.
• Approval rates can differ between the domestic scheme and the international one.
• Some brands offer features the other does not, such as installments or specific fraud tools.

What the checkout must do

Show the choice clearly, apply the merchant's preference by default, and let the cardholder change it. On a terminal, this is a screen prompt; online, it is a selector or a default with an alternative. For operators, the preference becomes a configuration per merchant, per market and sometimes per amount, so a merchant can prefer the domestic scheme for small amounts and the international one for others. Reporting by brand then measures the effect on cost and approvals.