UK PSR Seeks Merchant Survey Views on Interchange Fees

JD Supra Trade Law

Published March 6th, 2026

Detected March 7th, 2026

Summary

The UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is seeking comments on a draft merchant survey questionnaire as part of its review of cross-border interchange fees. The survey aims to gather data on merchants' processing costs for online payments from the EEA to inform fee levels. The deadline for comments is March 5, 2026.

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What changed

The UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has published an invitation to comment on a revised draft questionnaire for a proposed survey of UK merchants. This survey is part of the PSR's ongoing review of cross-border interchange fee remedies and will collect data on merchants' costs for processing online payments from the EEA using cards and certain alternative payment methods. The results will feed into a Merchant Indifference Test to determine appropriate cross-border interchange fee levels. The PSR has updated the questionnaire based on feedback from a prior consultation, deciding to include questions on SEPA-based bank transfers, PayPal, and Klarna's 'Pay in 30 days' product, while proposing to exclude American Express.

Regulated entities, particularly those involved in payment processing and merchants operating across borders, should review the draft questionnaire and submit comments by the deadline of 5:00 pm on March 5, 2026. This consultation is a step towards developing potential remedies, including a price cap, for cross-border interchange fees. Failure to provide input may result in the survey proceeding without addressing specific concerns, potentially impacting future regulatory decisions on interchange fee structures.

What to do next

Review the draft merchant survey questionnaire published by the UK PSR.
Submit comments on the draft questionnaire by March 5, 2026.
Assess potential impacts of cross-border interchange fee reviews on business operations.

Source document (simplified)

March 6, 2026

UK PSR Seeks Views On Draft Merchant Survey Questionnaire For Cross Border Interchange Fees

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The UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has published an invitation to comment on a revised draft questionnaire for a proposed survey of UK merchants as part of its review of cross border interchange fee remedies. The survey will gather data on merchants' costs of processing online payments from the EEA using cards and certain alternative payment methods, with the results feeding into a Merchant Indifference Test to inform the appropriate level of cross border interchange fees. The PSR has updated the questionnaire following responses to the PSR's October 2025 consultation on the methodology for developing a price cap remedy. It decided to include questions on SEPA based bank transfer methods, PayPal and Klarna's "Pay in 30 days" product but proposes to exclude American Express. The deadline for comments is 5.00 pm on 5 March, noting that further revisions may be made ahead of fieldwork.

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Alternative Payment Models (APM) + Follow Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) + Follow Cross-Border Transactions + Follow Financial Services Industry + Follow FinTech + Follow Interchange Fees + Follow Merchants + Follow Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) + Follow Public Consultations + Follow Regulatory Oversight + Follow Regulatory Reform + Follow UK + Follow Consumer Protection + Follow Finance & Banking + Follow International Trade + Follow more less

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