Each year in April and October, the card brands update processing rates and rules. Below is a summary of the changes that are expected to go into effect in April 2026. Verisave will continue to monitor the situation and will provide updates as more information becomes available. The rate and rule changes detailed below are ones that will impact the broadest number of merchants.
Visa
Interchange Fees
Commercial Enhanced Data Program (CEDP) – US
In April 2025, Visa announced changes to Level 2 and Level 3 interchange qualification for domestic Small Business and Commercial Card products. At that time, Level 3 was replaced with a new set of requirements known as CEDP Product 3.
Effective April 17, 2026, Commercial and Small Business Level 2 interchange programs will be sunset except for the Fleet-fuel-only Level 2 program which is excluded from CEDP and will remain in place.
Corporate and Purchasing Cards will pay the following rates after the Level 2 interchange program sunsets and Level 2 rates are no longer applicable:
| Current | Effective April 17, 2026 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Interchange Program | Rate | Interchange Program | Rate |
| Corporate Card – Non-Travel Service, Level 2 | 2.50% + $0.10 | Corporate Card – CP | 2.50% + $0.10 |
| Corporate Card – CNP | 2.70% + $0.10 | ||
| Purchasing Card – Non-Travel Service, Level 2 | 2.50% + $0.10 | Purchasing Card – CP | 2.50% + $0.10 |
| Purchasing Card – CNP | 2.70% + $0.10 |
NEW - Digital Commerce Authentication Program (DCAP) – US
Effective April 18, 2026, Visa is introducing the Digital Commerce Authentication Program (DCAP), a new optional program intended to enhance data sharing for customer-initiated card not present transactions. Merchants who participate can qualify for lower interchange rates by providing additional enhanced data through messages by a Visa approved authentication solution (e.g., Visa Secure, 3DS or Visa Token Service). The enhanced data elements include device token, IP address, email address, and full billing address. The goals of the program are to improve authorization approval rates and reduce fraud.
A five-basis point program fee will apply to transactions submitted with enhanced data as follows:
| Interchange Tier | Authentication Method | DCAP Service Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | EMV Token | n/a |
| Tier 2 | Enhanced Data + PAN | 0.05% |
| Tier 3 | Enhanced Data + EMV Token | 0.05% |
To illustrate, the new fee structure for a few Consumer card types is provided below. To download the complete set of interchange tables for consumer cards that will go into effect April 18, 2026 CLICK HERE.
Sample:
| Interchange Program | Current | Effective April 18, 2026 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 | |||
| Non-Tokenized | Tokenized | EMV Token Only | Non-Tokenized, DCAP | Tokenized, DCAP | |
| VS PRODUCT 1 CNP CREDIT | 1.89% + $0.10 | 1.80% + $0.10 | 1.84% + $0.10 | 1.79% + $0.10 | 1.74% + $0.10 |
| VS PRODUCT 1 CNP REWARDS | 2.04% + $0.10 | 1.95% + $0.10 | 1.99% + $0.10 | 1.94% + $0.10 | 1.89% + $0.10 |
| VS PRODUCT 1 CNP SIGNATURE | 2.05% + $0.10 | 1.95% + $0.10 | 2.00% + $0.10 | 1.95% + $0.10 | 1.90% + $0.10 |
| VS PRODUCT 1 CNP SIGNATURE PREFERRED | 2.50% + $0.10 | 2.40% + $0.10 | 2.45% + $0.10 | 2.40% + $0.10 | 2.35% + $0.10 |
| VS PRODUCT 1 CNP INFINITE | 2.60% + $0.10 | 2.50% + $0.10 | 2.55% + $0.10 | 2.50% + $0.10 | 2.45% + $0.10 |
| VS PRODUCT 1 CNP INFINITE SNQ | 2.20% + $0.10 | 2.10% + $0.10 | 2.15% + $0.10 | 2.10% + $0.10 | 2.05% + $0.10 |
Network Fees
NEW – Cash Back Service Fee – US
Effective April 1, 2026, Visa will introduce a $0.07 POS transaction Cash Back Fee which will apply when a Visa debit or prepaid card is used in conjunction with a purchase. The fee will apply to the Visa and Interlink networks.
NEW - Chargeback Compelling Evidence 3.0 Qualifications Fee – US
In October 2025, Visa began automatically qualifying transactions for Compelling Evidence 3.0 using Visa Secure data. For any fraud dispute under dispute condition 10.4: Other Fraud – Card Absent Environment where the merchant participates in Visa Secure, Visa will automatically review historical data collected through Visa Secure. The dispute will be closed if the Compelling Evidence 3.0 criteria are satisfied.
Effective April 17, 2026, Visa will assess a new Compelling Evidence 3.0 fee of $6 for each dispute closed through this process.
Mastercard
Rule Update - Full PANs Prohibited in Dispute Documentation
Effective April 17, 2026, Mastercard will no longer allow full primary account numbers in any document used for disputes. Violation of this rule may result in fines or additional fees. Merchants are advised to only show the last four digits of the card number in any document. The other digits in the account number must be masked.
American Express
Opt Blue Program Continuation Fee Modifications
Effective April 17, 2026, American Express is modifying the Opt Blue Program Continuation Fee. The Annual Charge Volume threshold will increase from a limit of $1M to $3M for industries that have an established acquiring threshold; industries that do not have a threshold are not impacted. The fee will also be modified from a single rate to a tiered rate structure as follows:
| Fee Description | Volume Tier | Current Rate | Rate Effective April 17, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Program Continuation Fee | <$1,000,000 | 0.03% | 0.03% |
| $3,000,000 - $15,000,000 | 0.03% | 0.03% | |
| $15,000,000 - $100,000,000 | 0.03% | 0.10% | |
| >$100,000,000 | 0.03% | 0.20% |
New Micro Ticket and Small Ticket Rates and Amount Thresholds
Effective April 17, 2026, Opt Blue is introducing new micro ticket and small ticket rates for the Travel and Entertainment and Other merchant industry groups. The changes are intended to provide more flexibility for smaller transactions. The new fee structure is as follows:
| Current | Effective April 17, 2026 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industry | Interchange Program | Threshold | Rate | Threshold | Rate |
| Travel & Entertainment | Micro Ticket | n/a | n/a | ≤ $5.00 | 2.00% + $0.02 |
| Small Ticket | n/a | n/a | $5.01 - $15.00 | 1.60% + $0.04 | |
| Tier 1 | ≤ $100 | 2.25% + $0.10 | $15.01 - $100.00 | 2.25% + $0.10 | |
| Other | Micro Ticket | n/a | n/a | ≤ $5.00 | 2.00% + $0.02 |
| Small Ticket | n/a | n/a | $5.01 - $15.00 | 1.60% + $0.04 | |
| Tier 1 | ≤ $100 | 1.60% + $0.10 | $15.01 - $100.00 | 1.60% + $0.10 |
Discover
Interchange
Effective April 17, 2026, Discover is modifying consumer credit interchange fees for Prime Submission Level (PSL) Hotel/Car Rental and Passenger Transport as follows:
| Interchange Program | Product | Current Rate | Effective April 17, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| PSL Hotel/Car Rental | Core | 1.58% + $0.10 | 1.75% + $0.10 |
| Premium | 2.30% + $0.10 | 2.25% + $0.10 | |
| Premium Plus | 2.58% + $0.10 | 2.55% + $0.10 | |
| PSL Passenger Transport | Premium | 2.30% + $0.10 | 2.25% + $0.10 |
| Premium Plus | 2.40% + $0.10 | 2.55% + $0.10 |
Effective April 17, 2026, Discover is adding two MCCs to the Retail PSL Interchange Program: MCC 5300 - Warehouse Club (was formerly in the Supermarket) and MCC 8398 - Charity
Effective April 17, 2026, Discover is adding MCC 8398 - Charity to the following interchange categories: PSL E-Commerce, PSL E-Commerce Secured, Key Entry.
