#
UK card-scheme economics are governed by the retained UK Interchange Fee Regulation (UK IFR), enforced by the PSR. Domestic consumer interchange is capped at 0.2% (debit) and 0.3% (credit). Post-Brexit, the EU IFR no longer applies to UK-EEA transactions; Mastercard and Visa raised UK-EEA card-not-present interchange to 1.15%/1.5%, prompting a PSR market review (MR22) that found the increases unjustified and is pursuing a long-term price-cap methodology (consultation MR22/2.8, Nov 2025). PCI DSS applies via the schemes. Mastercard/Visa account for c.95% of UK-issued card transactions.
On remedy, on 10 October 2025 the PSR decided not to proceed with an interim cap on UK-EEA cross-border interchange fees, opting for a single longer-term cap once a robust methodology is developed, citing ongoing litigation about its powers; it consulted on methodology via MR22/2.8 with responses by 21 November 2025. A material subsequent development bears on this: on 15 January 2026 the High Court (Cavanagh J) rejected the challenge by Mastercard, Visa and Revolut to the PSR's power to impose price caps, removing the litigation obstacle the PSR cited in October 2025 and clearing the path for the long-term cap methodology consultation. This is carried as a downstream caveat to the October 2025 decision.
Outlook
W4 is escalating on the cross-border front while the domestic caps remain stable. The principal horizon item is the PSR's long-term cross-border interchange cap methodology, expected through 2026; with the January 2026 High Court ruling having upheld PSR powers, the chief procedural obstacle the PSR cited in October 2025 is removed, and the methodology consultation can advance. The form and timing of the single longer-term cap will determine the cross-border interchange relief available to UK merchants.
Scheme & Network Compliance
The standing record's prior framing of 1 July 2026 as a deadline for complete migration to the New Payments Architecture is incorrect and is corrected here. The only PSR-set deadline attaching to that date concerned compliance with Specific Direction 3 for procurement of future Faster Payments central-infrastructure services; it was never a deadline for completed migration of scheme participants onto a new infrastructure platform. The PSR's own publication confirms that Specific Direction 3 and Specific Direction 3a were revoked on 21 May 2025, well ahead of the 1 July 2026 date that had previously been associated with it in the standing record, following the cancellation of the NPA procurement that those directions governed.
For scheme participants and network operators, this means the compliance obligation that the 1 July 2026 date had been attached to no longer exists in the form previously recorded: the directions creating it were revoked, and the procurement they governed was cancelled. Any scheme compliance planning keyed to that date as an NPA migration deadline should be revisited against the PSR's current Interbank Infrastructure Renewal programme rather than the superseded Specific Direction 3 framework.
Outlook
No new scheme-compliance deadline replacing the revoked Specific Direction 3 has been identified. Scheme participants should look to PSR publications on the Interbank Infrastructure Renewal programme for the next substantive compliance marker rather than treating the 1 July 2026 date as live.
1 earlier distinct update(s)
Scheme Rules & Network Governance
No new structured findings were developed for this module in the current cycle. The gaps register records that research surfaced no in-cycle movement on W4 for the UK; module coverage this cycle was concentrated in W1a, W1b, and W2.
Outlook
No date-certain forward items are currently recorded for this module in the UK. Standing-brief coverage will resume when new signal is available.
Sources and findings (4)
- T1UK Parliament written answer (June 2025) — UK domestic interchange fees are capped at 0.2% for consumer debit cards and 0.3% for consumer credit cards, under the UK IFR, with the PSR responsible for enforcing the caps.
- T1PSR — Market review into cross-border interchange fees — Following Brexit, Mastercard and Visa raised UK-EEA card-not-present interchange from 0.2%/0.3% to 1.15%/1.5% for debit/credit; the PSR's market review found these increases unjustified, stemming from a lack of effective competition and costing UK businesses up to £200m annually.
- T1PSR / Regulation Tomorrow / HSF Kramer — On 10 October 2025 the PSR decided not to proceed with an interim cap on UK-EEA cross-border interchange fees, opting instead to implement a single longer-term cap once it has developed a robust methodology, citing ongoing litigation about its powers; it consulted on methodology via MR22/2.8 (responses by 21 Nov 2025).
- T3Checkout.com explainer (citing PSR report) — The PSR's card-fees market review focuses on Mastercard and Visa, whose cards account for c.95% of UK-issued card transactions; the regulator provisionally found the two schemes do not face effective competition.