Who collects scheme fees?

• A. The merchant.
• B. The processor.
• C. The card network.
• D. The issuing bank.

Answer: (C)

Scheme fees are charges set by the payment networks themselves (the networks that run the card rails, like Visa and MasterCard). They cover the costs of operating the card payment system, such as processing, security, and settlement. These fees are assessed to the merchant’s acquiring bank (the bank that processes transactions for the merchant) and are ultimately passed on to the merchant as part of the processing charges. Interchange fees, by contrast, go to the issuing banks, not to the networks, so the networks themselves are the ones collecting the scheme fees.