Twice a year, merchants are presented with updates regarding network fees. Introductions and reclassifications of fees can create challenges for merchants who are having to juggle normal payment operations while also understanding what impact these changes might have. April 2026 brings an estimated $3.0 billion in additional cost to U.S. merchants in network fees.

E-commerce Fees 

With more than 80% of the U.S. population shopping online and e-commerce continuing to grow as a share of total card spend,¹ even small fee changes can have a large financial impact at scale. Recent updates to digital commerce fees are likely to be among the more meaningful changes for merchants relying heavily on online transactions.

One of the most significant updates this April is Visa’s Digital Commerce Service Fee (DCSF). Beginning April 2026 it will apply to card-not-present (CNP) authorized transactions and will also bundle several tokenization and services into one fee structure.² CMSPI estimates an additional cost impact from this fee update to be approximately $122.1 million. This estimate reflects the evolution of the fee; originally introduced in October 2023 on settled CNP transactions, now applies to CNP purchase transactions and has expanded to bundle previously separate services, including Token Authentication Verification Value (TAVV), Visa Account Updater (VAU), Visa Digital Credential Updater (VDCU), and Visa Credential Enrichment Service (VCES).³

Mastercard is making a similar update through changes to its Digital Enablement Fee for card-not-present transactions. Rather than a flat fee, the structure will include a minimum fee of $0.025 per transaction, a middle tier calculated at 0.025% of the transaction amount, and a maximum fee of $0.50 per transaction.⁴ Because this structure applies to transaction thresholds of $100 to $2,000, the impact will vary across merchants depending on average ticket size and transaction mix. CMSPI estimates an additional cost impact from this fee update to be approximately $124.8 million.

Enhanced Data Programs 

Alongside fee changes, networks continue to expand programs designed to encourage the use of enhanced transaction data, particularly in card-not-present environments. Visa programs such as the Commercial Enhanced Data Program (CEDP) and the Digital Commerce Authentication Program (DCAP) are intended to incentivize merchants to submit enhanced Level 3 data and use stronger authentication methods.⁵

CMSPI estimates that DCAP-related changes could result in up to $771 million annually in incremental services fees for Visa, driven by the introduction of a 5bps DCAP network fee and a reduction in the network token interchange benefit. DCAP introduces a meaningful interchange fee reduction for eligible transactions. The overall impact on merchants will depend on their level of network token adoption. In practice, the change reflects a broader shift in fees from interchange toward network fees.

For small business cards, the January 2026 Visa CEDP updates increased interchange rates on Level 2 & Level 3 transactions. Level 2 rates sunset in April 2026 bring a clear benefit to sending enhanced data and aligning transactions accordingly. For merchants who were previously on Level 2 rates, there is an estimated cost impact of $2 billion for 2026 given the increase in January 2026 and an assumption of taking on the Level 1 rate post-April 2026. However, CEDP Data Rate 3 introduces a pathway for merchants to lower fees by qualifying for enhanced data–based pricing.

These programs are closely tied to tokenization and digital authentication, and they reflect a broader shift toward more data-rich transactions. In some cases, merchants that qualify for enhanced data programs may see different fee outcomes tied to authentication and data submission.

Tokenization 

Tokenization has become a core part of the payment ecosystem rather than an emerging technology. In 2024 alone, Visa reported a 44% year-over-year increase in token usage, which Visa says has been associated with a 6% improvement in authorized rates.⁶ Approximately 35% of all transactions are already tokenized,⁷ with Visa reporting that roughly 50% of its e-commerce volume uses network tokens.⁸

As tokenized transactions begin to make up a larger share of total payment transaction volume, networks are beginning to introduce fees tied directly to token usage. Beginning in April 2026, Visa will introduce a Card-Present Token Fee on authorized network-tokenized card-present transactions.⁹ With an estimated annual cost impact of approximately $14.6 million, this new fee introduces an added cost layer for merchants with significant tokenized point-of-sale volumes, particularly for transactions originating from NFC digital wallets such as Apple Pay. As these transactions are typically tokenized by default, network tokens may constrain routing flexibility and reduce cost advantages available through CP PINless routing.

Conclusion

As payment fees continue to evolve across both digital and physical channels, understanding where changes apply and how they affect different transaction types is becoming increasingly important. Network fees specific to channels have grown more than 200% since 2018.

Not only are fees increasing in quantity, but they are also increasing in complexity. As fees continue to increase in number and complexity, CMSPI partners with merchants to bring transparency to the payment cost and translate insight into actionable optimization opportunities helping ensure payment strategies remain efficient and fit for growth.

Macro-estimates are using CMSPI’s Merchant Payments Intelligence (MPI) data to inform the analysis. CMSPI receives 1 in 7 transactions in the U.S. each year. The estimated cost impact for some fees may not be fully representative of the wider population of transactions.