Fall 2025 RELEASE GUIDE
OVERVIEW
The card networks (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, etc.) introduce and make updates to their operating rules throughout the year. Most of the changes come during two release periods – Spring and Fall.
These network updates typically include fee introductions or updates, new mandates, new features, program changes, or updates to existing features.
While many of the updates require no action for merchants, some updates can require integration changes, fee impact, or forced adoption of services.
PayPal Braintree teams have worked together to identify the key updates for October 2025 and beyond and these updates are below. The updates provide the nature of the update (fee change, mandate, new feature/update), the network implementing the change, and the regions in scope.
KEY October 2025 and 2026 NETWORK RELEASES (please note, some releases have varying due date timelines outside of just Fall 2025.(click below to jump to specific update)
VISA — Key Updates
Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP)
Type: Program Change | Region: Global
Effective: June 1, 2025 (program changes); October 1, 2025 (new fees)
Merchant Impact: Awareness of new fraud/dispute thresholds and fee structure.
- VDMP and VFMP retired in Europe on March 31, 2025; consolidated into VAMP on April 1, 2025.
- As of June 1, 2025, revised calculation methodology, thresholds, and fine amounts.
- Ratios: VAMP ratio = (TC40 reported fraud + TC15 disputes) / total settled txns. Enumeration ratio = confirmed enumerated txns / settled txns.
Program Thresholds and Fines
| Identification | Threshold | Fines | Fines Start |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acquirer Early Warning | 40–50 bps | N/A | N/A |
| Acquirer Above Standard | 50–70 bps | $4 per count | Jan 1, 2026 |
| Acquirer Excessive | ≥ 70 bps | $8 per count | Oct 1, 2025 |
| Merchant Excessive | ≥ 220 bps (150 bps from Apr 1, 2026) | $8 per count | Oct 1, 2025 |
- Excludes disputes resolved via pre‑dispute products and confirmed CE 3.0 transactions.
- No fines if merchant has < 5 total fraud and dispute transactions.
- No fines for enumeration ratio at this time.
- First‑time offenders: three‑month grace period within a 12‑month rolling period.
- Calculated by Central Processing Date (CPD).
- Fees passed through via acquirer; merchants must submit remediation plan within 15 days of notification.
- If the acquirer breaches VAMP thresholds, merchant fines apply at ≥ 50 bps: $4 per count (Above Standard) or $8 per count (Excessive).
Visa Secure Credential Framework (EU)
Type: Fee Change | Region: EU
Effective: Oct 1, 2025 (Israel: Sep 30, 2025). Out of scope for Turkey.
Merchant Impact: Increased fee for using PAN instead of tokens or 3DS.
- Behavior fee designed to encourage 3DS or token usage.
- Current: 2.5 bps → Updated: 7.5 bps.
Visa Commercial Enhanced Data Program (US)
Type: Program & Fee Change | Region: US
Effective: Apr 11, 2025; Oct 17, 2025; Apr 2026
Merchant Impact: Monitoring and verification of Level 3 data; potential interchange benefits.
How It Works
- CEDP flag on transactions with Level 3 data; Visa ML reviews daily.
- At least 20 days or 500 eligible transactions reviewed; “Verified” list shared monthly (effective Oct 2025).
- Unverified merchants get error codes and non‑CEDP interchange at settlement; may receive lagged adjustments within 10–15 days once corrected.
- Level 2: existing criteria remain through Apr 2026; CEDP flag not required for L2.
Pricing
- Program fee: 5 bps per txn when CEDP flag present (effective Apr 2025; pass‑through for IC+/IC++).
Interchange (effective Oct 2025)
| Product | Existing IC Program | Existing Rate | New IC Program | New Rate(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate/Purchasing | Commercial Level III | 1.90% + $0.10 | Product 3 | 1.75% + $0.10 |
| Corporate/Purchasing (Large Ticket) | Commercial Product | 1.45% + $35 | Commercial Product | 1.30% + $35 |
| Small Business Tier I | N/A | N/A | Product 3 | 1.75% + $0.10 |
| Small Business Tier II | 1.90% + $0.10 | |||
| Small Business Tier III | 1.95% + $0.10 | |||
| Small Business Tier IV | 2.05% + $0.10 | |||
| Small Business Tier V | 2.10% + $0.10 |
Small Business Tiers
| Tier | Spend Band |
|---|---|
| I | $0 – $19,999.99 |
| II | $20,000.00 – $39,999.99 |
| III | $40,000.00 – $99,999.99 |
| IV | $100,000 – $249,999.99 |
| V | $250,000+ |
Eligibility for L3 (CEDP): US Commercial credit (Corporate, Purchasing, Fleet—some exclusions—and Small Business); include CEDP flag where required; submit enhanced data per specs; meet Visa U.S. IRF guide requirements. Ineligible MCCs: 3000–3999, 4112, 4411, 4511, 4722, 5812, 5814, 7011, 7512.
If not qualified: Standard Commercial CNP ~ 2.70% + $0.10.
Level 2 incentives sunset: Apr 2026.
Visa Non‑Domestic Settlement Currency Fee Changes
Type: Fee Change | Region: EU, US, CA, CEMEA, LAC
Effective: Apr 1, 2026
Merchant Impact: Increased fee when settlement currency differs from merchant’s local currency.
Europe (intra‑EU and international)
| Fee Name | Thru 3/31/26 | Effective 4/1/26 | Effective 4/1/27 | Effective 4/1/28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non‑Domestic Currency Settlement Fee | 10 bps | 15 bps | 20 bps | 25 bps |
US, CA, LAC, CEMEA
| Fee Name | Thru 3/31/26 | Effective 4/1/26 |
|---|---|---|
| Non‑Domestic Currency Settlement Fee | 10 bps | 25 bps |
Visa E‑Commerce Experience (“Vee”) — Europe
Type: Fee Changes | Region: EU
Multi‑year initiative to improve e‑commerce performance via tokenization, enhanced auth, data quality, and risk scoring. Updates three EU fees: 3DS pricing, E‑Commerce Token Facilitation, and Digital Commerce Services Fee (DCSF). Fees vary by Group A (domestic/intra‑EEA and UK/CH corridors) vs Group B (TR/IL/Europe cross‑border and rest‑of‑world to Europe corridors).
3DS Fee (effective Apr 1, 2026)
Per 3DS request. Current EUR 0.02 → increased with “Data Quality Met” discounted rates where specific data elements are passed.
| New Name | Txn Type | Group | Data Quality Met | Updated Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name Pending | CIT | A | No | EUR 0.03 |
| Name Pending | CIT | A | Yes | EUR 0.025 |
| Name Pending | CIT | B | No | EUR 0.04 |
| Name Pending | CIT | B | Yes | EUR 0.03 |
| Name Pending | MIT | A | No | EUR 0.003 |
| Name Pending | MIT | A | Yes | EUR 0.002 |
| Name Pending | MIT | B | No | EUR 0.003 |
| Name Pending | MIT | B | Yes | EUR 0.002 |
Data Quality Met: pass these data points in 3DS messages—Browser: Browser ID Address, Device IP Address, Cardholder Name, Cardholder phone or email. In‑App/SDK: Device IP Address, Cardholder Name, Cardholder phone or email.
E‑Commerce Token Facilitation Fee (renamed from VTS Acquirer Authentication Service)
Effective: Apr 1, 2026. Current: EUR 0.02 → New: Group A: 5 bps per auth (cap $1.25); Group B: 8 bps per auth (cap $2.00).
Digital Commerce Services Fee (DCSF)
Effective: Apr 1, 2027. Flat per‑auth fee for bundled services (VAU/RT‑VAU, VDCU, AVS, CVV2).
| Group | Fee (per auth) |
|---|---|
| A | 2.25 bps |
| B | 10 bps |
Visa Account Verification — Europe
Type: Fee Change | Region: EU
Effective: Apr 1, 2026
Merchant Impact: Higher rates for zero‑amount account verification.
Improvements: PAV API supports AV for PAN and tokens; VTAV enables AV via Get Payment Data API when fetching a cryptogram.
| Fee Description | Current thru 3/31/26 | New 4/1/26 |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic AV | EUR 0.0032 | EUR 0.0059 |
| Intraregional AV | EUR 0.0068 | EUR 0.0095 |
| Interregional AV | EUR 0.0425 | EUR 0.0600 |
Visa System Integrity Fees — Interregional Authorization Reattempts
Type: Fee Change | Region: EU, US, CA, CEMEA
Effective: Apr 25, 2026
Merchant Impact: Higher fees for excessive cross‑border retries.
- Category 1: no retries allowed; fee applies on any retry.
- Categories 2–4: 20 retries allowed in 30 days; fee applies from 21st retry.
- Fee: 15 bps → 25 bps.
Visa Digital Commerce Services Fee & Tokenization — US
Type: Fee Change | Region: US
Effective: Apr 1, 2026 (with additional changes 2027)
Merchant Impact: New services added; pricing increases.
- US DCSF (introduced Oct 2023) originally covered AVS, CVV2, MIT Service; charged per authentication attempt.
- Added services as of Apr 1, 2026: TAVV, VAU/RT‑VAU, VDCU, VCES.
- Pricing: Current 0.75 bps (min $0.0075).
| Effective | Domestic | Domestic Min | Cross‑Border | Cross‑Border Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/1/26 | 1.5 bps | $0.01 | 3.5 bps | $0.01 |
| 4/1/27 | 2.25 bps | $0.0125 | 5.25 bps | $0.0125 |
Visa Digital Commerce Fee Revised — AP
Type: Fee Change | Region: AP
Effective: Jul 2025 (original); revised pricing effective Apr 1, 2026.
Merchant Impact: New services added to DCSF; higher pricing. Applies to Brunei, Cambodia, Guam, Laos, Malaysia, Micronesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.
- Original services: VAU, VCES, 3DS, DAF, CVV2.
- Added services: TAVV Cryptogram, TLCM, VCEH, Cof‑D API, Visa Verify (AVS & ANI).
| Txn Type | Fee | Min | Max |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | 0.02% | $0.002 | $0.20 |
| Cross‑border | 0.05% | $0.0125 | $0.05 |
MASTERCARD — Key Updates
Mastercard Credential Continuity Program (CCP)
Type: Fee Changes | Region: US, AP
Effective: US: Apr 1, 2025; AP: Feb 1, 2026
Merchant Impact: Higher fee on recurring transactions using outdated credentials when an update was available ≥ 10 days prior.
- Ways to avoid fees: network tokenization; proactively contact cardholder; use Automatic Billing Updater.
- US: $0.03 → $0.09; AP (from Feb 1, 2026): $0.09.
Mastercard Revised Acquirer Fees — Canada
Type: Fee Changes | Region: CA
Effective: Jun 16, 2025; Jul 1, 2025; Sep 15, 2025
- Acquire License Fee: merchants charged 0.00259% annually (increase of 0.00122%).
- Acquirer Assessment Fee: 8.7 bps → 9.0 bps on all sales transactions (from Jul 1, 2025).
- New Acquirer Clearing Fee (from Sep 15, 2025): $0.005 on txns ≤ $25; $0.0195 on txns > $25 (applies to cleared txns, credits/refunds, chargebacks, etc.).
Mastercard Digital Enablement Fee (DEF)
Type: Fee Changes | Region: US, CA
Effective: US: Jul 14, 2025; CA: Nov 3, 2025; further changes Feb 2, 2026.
- US: removing $0.40 cap for txns ≥ $1,000; include previously excluded declines due to insufficient funds. DEF = 2 bps.
- CA (Nov 3, 2025): remove $0.20 cap for txns ≥ $1,000. From Feb 2, 2026: include previously excluded financial declines; applies to all auths and CNP (incl. insufficient funds).
- DEF is per‑authorization; services bundled include ABU, 3DS, AVS, CVC2, ASI, Identity Risk Score, First Party Trust.
Mastercard Digital Assurance Fee — Australia
Type: Fee Changes | Region: AU
Effective: Oct 6, 2025
Merchant Impact: Increased fee on non‑tokenized transactions for Australian merchants.
- 1 bps → 4 bps.
Mastercard Non‑Local Currency Fee
Type: Fee Change | Region: EU, AP, US, CA
Effective: Oct 13, 2025
Merchant Impact: New fee replaces Multi‑Currency Settlement Fee; charged weekly as % of cleared amounts when settlement currency differs from local currency.
Fee: 10 bps.