Interchange Fee

The Interchange Fee is a fee that an acquirer collects from a merchant on behalf of an issuer for payment made using debit cards and credit cards.

Acquirers include interchange fees in the merchant service charge (MSC) that they charge to merchants which use their services.

Interchange fees are determined by payment network operators like Visa and Mastercard. The Swiss Competition Commission negotiates the maximum Interchange fees with payment network operators.

The interchange fees vary depending on the way that the transaction is made, and the kind of business the merchant is engaged in. Visa and Mastercard publish the interchange fees on their websites, but the format in which they are published is not transparent.

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