Regulated interchange

The capped interchange rate applied under EU Regulation 2015/751 and the UK equivalent. Domestic consumer-card interchange is capped at 0.2% (debit) and 0.3% (credit). Commercial cards, cross-border transactions, and certain prepaid products fall outside the cap.

In practice.

The EU interchange caps are why European domestic consumer card volume is structurally cheap to process. The caps do not cover commercial cards or inter-regional transactions, which is where blended pricing quietly makes its margin. Under IC++ you see the capped rates passed through directly.

Related terms: Interchange · Cross-border interchange