Scheme fees

Also called network fees, card scheme fees, assessment fees

Fees that Visa, Mastercard and other card networks charge for using their network, separate from interchange and passed through to the merchant by the acquirer.

Interchange goes to the player’s bank. Scheme fees go to the card network itself. They are the middle term in interchange plus plus pricing: interchange, then scheme fees, then the PSP’s markup.

Most studios never see scheme fees as a line item. Blended-rate PSPs build them into the headline price, and we found no public network fee schedule to quote. They surface around disputes. Stripe’s pricing notes that “in rare cases, network fees also apply” on top of its $15 dispute fee (Stripe). FastSpring’s chargeback dashboard adds “applicable network fees” to disputed amounts without stating a figure (FastSpring). Mastercard charges a $5 issuer recovery assessment per chargeback over 300 to merchants in month four or later of its excessive-chargeback program (Stripe).

If a provider quotes IC++, ask for a sample invoice that breaks out scheme fees by card type and region before you sign. See hidden fees.