What the 2026 interchange updates mean for your rates
The card networks adjust interchange every April and October. Here is how to read the latest round, and why a "rate increase" is often someone else’s markup, not the networks.
Twice a year, like clockwork, the card networks refresh their interchange schedules, and twice a year a wave of "rate increase" notices goes out to merchants. Some of those increases are real network changes. Many are processors using the calendar as cover to widen their own markup. The 2026 spring update is a good moment to learn how to tell the difference, because the skill pays off every April and October for the rest of your business’s life.
Why April and October matter
Visa and Mastercard update interchange on a predictable schedule, generally April and October. The adjustments are targeted, not blanket: a few basis points here, a category reclassification there. They are also identical for every processor, because interchange is the wholesale cost the networks set, not something your processor controls.
The key fact
How to read your update notice
When a rate-change notice arrives, do not just absorb it. Run it through three quick questions.
- Does it cite specific card types? Real network changes are targeted. A vague across-the-board bump is a flag.
- Did your effective rate move more than the change explains? Recompute total fees ÷ volume before and after. The gap is added markup.
- Is the markup line itself moving? On interchange-plus you can see it directly. On tiered or flat-rate, you cannot, which is the point.
The bottom line
- Interchange updates land every April and October and are usually modest and targeted.
- Interchange is identical for every processor; only markup differs.
- "The networks raised rates" is often cover for added processor markup.
- Recompute your effective rate before and after; the unexplained gap is markup.
- Interchange-plus shows the markup line directly, which is exactly why it is harder to game.
Not sure which it was?
Sources & further reading
Figures cited as ranges or examples reflect publicly published network schedules and regulator filings at the time of writing. Card networks update interchange and fees periodically, usually each April and October, so always confirm against the current schedule.
- [1]Visa. Visa USA Interchange Reimbursement Fees – updated each April and October
- [2]Mastercard. Merchant Interchange Rates
- [3]U.S. Federal Reserve. Regulation II (Debit Interchange Fees and Routing)
General education, not financial, legal, or tax advice. Rates and rules change; verify current figures before acting. Send us a recent statement and we will show you your real effective rate and where you can save.
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