Finance term
Interchange Fee
The card network's share of a payment
Definition
The portion of a card transaction fee paid by the merchant's acquirer to the cardholder's issuing bank, set by the card network.
In more detail
Interchange is one of three components in a card fee, alongside the network's own scheme fee and the acquirer's margin. Only the last is negotiable with a payment provider.
Rates vary by card type, by whether the card is present, and by region, which is why blended pricing and interchange-plus pricing produce different bills for the same trading pattern.
Glossary entries are general explanations, not advice. Where a term appears in a contract or policy, the definition in that document governs.