UK-EU cross-border interchange calculator
Since 2021, UK merchants pay 1.15% (debit) and 1.50% (credit) interchange on online sales to EEA-issued consumer cards, versus the 0.2% and 0.3% caps that apply to domestic UK cards under the retained Interchange Fee Regulation. Enter your turnover and EU-customer share below to see what the post-Brexit uplift costs your business each year, and what you would save if the PSR's suspended January 2026 cap takes effect.
Estimate uses the published Visa and Mastercard UK-EEA card-not-present consumer interchange rates (1.15% debit, 1.50% credit, in force since 2021) against the retained-IFR domestic caps (0.2% debit, 0.3% credit). Consumer cards only; commercial-card interchange is uncapped in both directions. On blended pricing the cost is absorbed into your headline rate rather than itemised. Rates checked 11 June 2026.
The rates behind the calculator
| Transaction | Consumer debit | Consumer credit | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK card at UK merchant (domestic) | 0.20% | 0.30% | Retained UK Interchange Fee Regulation cap |
| EEA card at UK merchant, in person | 0.20% | 0.30% | Scheme rates held at domestic level |
| EEA card at UK merchant, online (CNP) | 1.15% | 1.50% | Visa / Mastercard scheme rates since 2021 |
| PSR cap (suspended pending appeal) | 0.20% | 0.30% | PSR remedies January 2026; Court of Appeal heard 17 March 2026 |
Consumer cards only; commercial-card interchange is uncapped in both directions. The PSR cap is suspended pending the Court of Appeal judgment expected summer 2026.
View as plain-text Markdown
### UK consumer-card interchange rates used by this calculator (as of 11 June 2026) | Transaction | Consumer debit | Consumer credit | Basis | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | UK card at UK merchant (domestic) | 0.20% | 0.30% | Retained UK Interchange Fee Regulation cap | | EEA card at UK merchant, in person | 0.20% | 0.30% | Scheme rates held at domestic level | | EEA card at UK merchant, online (CNP) | 1.15% | 1.50% | Visa / Mastercard scheme rates since 2021 | | PSR cap (suspended pending appeal) | 0.20% | 0.30% | PSR remedies January 2026; Court of Appeal heard 17 March 2026 | Source: Retained Interchange Fee Regulation (legislation.gov.uk), Visa and Mastercard published UK interchange tables, PSR cross-border interchange market review (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2015/751) Consumer cards only; commercial-card interchange is uncapped in both directions. The PSR cap is suspended pending the Court of Appeal judgment expected summer 2026.
How the estimate is calculated
The uplift is the difference between the post-2021 cross-border card-not-present rates and the domestic-level rates that applied before Brexit (and that still apply to in-person EEA transactions):
Uplift = V × EEA% × CNP% × [ debit% × (1.15 − 0.20)% + credit% × (1.50 − 0.30)% ]
Where V is annual card turnover, EEA% is the share from EU/EEA-issued cards, CNP% is the share of that volume taken remotely, and debit%/credit% is the consumer card mix. The same formula with the PSR-cap rates gives the saving if the cap survives the appeal: the full uplift returns to zero because the capped rates match domestic.
Worked example: UK e-commerce merchant selling to Europe
£250k annual card turnover, 20% from EEA-issued cards, all online, 75/25 debit-credit mix:
- EEA card-not-present volume: £250,000 × 20% = £50,000
- Debit uplift: £37,500 × 0.95% = £356
- Credit uplift: £12,500 × 1.20% = £150
- Total extra interchange: about £506 per year, versus the same sales pre-Brexit
Scale matters: at £1m turnover with a 40% EU mix, the same arithmetic produces a roughly £4,050 annual uplift. On interchange-plus pricing this lands directly on your statement; on blended pricing it is baked into the rate your acquirer quoted you.
“This models consumer-card interchange only, which is one component of your merchant service charge, not the whole fee. Scheme fees and your acquirer's margin sit on top, and commercial cards were never capped in the first place. If you are on blended pricing you will not see the uplift as a line item, so do not expect the calculator's number to match a statement entry; it is the underlying cost difference, which your acquirer has priced into your headline rate somewhere. And the legal position is live: if the Court of Appeal upholds the PSR cap this summer, the uplift this page calculates is exactly what should disappear from your costs.”
What you can actually do about it
- Check your pricing model. On interchange-plus, confirm your contract passes through interchange at cost, so if the PSR cap takes effect your rate falls automatically. On blended, ask your acquirer how EEA volume is priced and whether a carve-out rate is available.
- Quantify before negotiating. The number this calculator produces is the negotiating gap. Acquirers price EEA-heavy merchants differently when the merchant knows the interchange arithmetic.
- Watch the appeal. The Court of Appeal heard the Visa/Mastercard appeal against the PSR cap on 17 March 2026, with judgment expected in summer 2026. Our cross-border update page tracks the status.
- Consider local acquiring or alternative rails. Larger merchants route EEA volume through an EU acquiring entity; smaller ones can offer Pay by Bank at checkout, which avoids card interchange entirely.
Frequently asked questions
Which transactions does the cross-border uplift apply to?
Card-not-present (online, phone, mail-order) transactions where the card was issued in the EEA and the merchant is in the UK. In-person (card-present) UK-EEA transactions stayed at 0.2% debit and 0.3% credit. That is why the calculator asks what share of your EEA volume is taken remotely.
Why did the rates go up after Brexit?
Until 31 December 2020 the UK sat inside the EU Interchange Fee Regulation, which capped cross-border consumer interchange at 0.2% debit and 0.3% credit. After the transition period ended, UK-EEA transactions were no longer "intra-EEA", so the caps stopped applying in that direction. Visa and Mastercard raised UK-EEA card-not-present interchange to 1.15% and 1.50% during 2021, a roughly five-fold increase.
Has the rise been capped or reversed?
Not yet. The Payment Systems Regulator concluded its cross-border interchange market review and issued remedies capping UK-EEA cross-border interchange at the domestic levels (0.2% debit, 0.3% credit) in January 2026. Visa and Mastercard appealed, the cap was suspended pending appeal, and the Court of Appeal heard the case on 17 March 2026. Judgment is expected in summer 2026. Until then the higher rates continue to be charged.
Do I pay this directly if I am on blended pricing?
Not as a visible line item. On blended pricing your acquirer absorbs interchange into your single headline rate, so the cross-border cost is priced into what you pay overall. On interchange-plus (IC+) pricing the full cross-border interchange appears transaction by transaction on your statement, so EEA-issued card-not-present sales directly cost you more.
Does this cover commercial (business) cards too?
No. Commercial-card interchange was never capped by the IFR, domestically or cross-border, and typically runs 1.0% to 2.5% regardless of geography. This calculator models consumer cards only, which is where the Brexit uplift bites. If your customer base is heavily B2B, the consumer-card uplift is a smaller share of your total cost.
How accurate is the estimate?
It is an estimate built from the published scheme rates, not your statement. Real-world results vary with your exact card mix (the calculator assumes a UK-typical debit-heavy split unless you change it), secure vs non-secure transaction classification, and any scheme fees on top of interchange. For a statement-level answer, send us a recent statement and our account team will price it line by line.
EU-facing business? Get your statement priced properly
Send your monthly volume and EU-customer share. Our account team models the cross-border cost across mainstream and interchange-plus acquirers and surfaces the two or three that price EEA volume best. No obligation, no upfront fees.
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Oliver leads MerchantHQ's terminal testing and acquirer comparison. With a background in UK commercial finance and merchant payments, he oversees terminal reviews, switching guidance and high-risk vertical mapping.
Last reviewed: 11 June 2026