CP25-3 Market review of card scheme and processing fees - Proposed directions

We are setting out changes that will give businesses more information on the card payment (scheme and processing) fees they pay and give the PSR a better understanding of how the level of these fees is set.

Why are we consulting?

Our market review found that Mastercard and Visa don’t face competition with fees rising and a lack of clarity on how much businesses will have to pay to accept card payments.

In April 2025, we published a remedies consultation (CP25/1) setting out four potential remedies to address those issues and the detriment arising from them.

We have decided to implement two of those remedies and are now consulting on the detailed form of the directions we are proposing to make. We expect to be ready to consult on a draft direction for a third remedy – regulatory financial reporting – by 31 March 2026.

What is in the documents?

Having considered stakeholders’ submissions in responses to CP25/1, and after further analysis and stakeholder engagement, we have published a consultation on the two draft directions we are proposing to impose on the schemes in order to implement the following remedies:

• Information, transparency and complexity remedy (the ITC remedy) to ensure that acquirers, and merchants through their contractual relationship, receive better information to understand the fees they are charged. This is to remedy the schemes’ failure to provide sufficient information to acquirers.
• Pricing governance remedy (the Pricing Governance remedy) to ensure that there is evidence behind pricing decisions, a remedy to the current absence of evidence showing how pricing decisions are made.

Who should read this document?

Anyone with an interest in card payments in the UK - particularly issuers, acquirers, card scheme operators, businesses and cardholders. We welcome your views on this consultation. If you would like to provide comments, please send these to us by 5pm on 13 February 2026.