April 2022 Updates

Effective April 22, 2022, we will update our systems to reflect the April card brand technical updates. Here's an overview of what's changing.

Visa

• The effective date of the changes to the billing calculation for unauthorized, settled returns (Zero Floor Limit) and authorized, unsettled returns (Misuse Fee) has been pushed back to June 25, 2022
• Credit vouchers and returns must be authorized. Unauthorized, settled returns or credit vouchers will be billed the VS Zero Floor Limit Fee. Unreversed, unsettled authorizations on returns or credit vouchers will be billed the Visa Misuse Fee
• Zero Floor Limit applies to each settled transaction that does not have a corresponding authorization. On June 25, 2022, it will also include returns and credit vouchers
• Misuse Fee applies to every authorization that does not have a corresponding settled transaction. On June 25, 2022, it will also include returns and credit vouchers

The standard procedure: If a Purchase Request Authorization (PRA) is not submitted as a transaction within 10 days, it must be reversed within one day for Card Present transactions and 3 days for Card Not Present transactions.

• Visa, Mastercard, and Discover are introducing online authorizations for purchase return transactions to improve the cardholder experience and reduce merchant service inquiries about returns.

Visa Interchange Programs

• Visa added interchange programs to EMV tokenized transactions that meet current Canadian domestic consumer credit fee programs. This update includes 52 interchange programs
  • New program for tokenized Visa consumer credit transactions
  • New program for tokenized card not present Visa consumer credit transactions
  • New recurring payment programs for tokenized Visa consumer credit transactions
  • Visa will begin assessing different interchange rates on tokenized and non-tokenized consumer credit transactions that meet CNP CPS qualification
  • A higher rate will apply to non-tokenized transactions
  • A lower rate for tokenized transactions
• Visa added four (4) new interchange programs for cash disbursement transactions and changed the name of its existing program to Manual Cash Disbursements Default
• Visa is increasing the interchange rates on nine (9) existing consumer credit programs
• This update impacts six (6) interchange program:
  • Visa is changing the definition of Small Merchant Program to include up to $250K in total gross Visa U.S. domestic credit transaction volume.
  • Adding nine (9) Small Merchant interchange programs
  • Eligible merchants include restaurants, taxi, real estate, education, advertising, insurance, telecommunications, and cable merchants
• Visa added one (1) new LAC Acquired Chip interchange program
• Visa modified the existing U.S. Utility interchange programs for recurring payments to now include and segregated prepaid healthcare, prepaid consumer, prepaid business, and regulated payments from each other.

MasterCard

• Mastercard Interchange Programs:

  • Mastercard is updating the interchange on several consumer interchange programs
  • Decreasing the interchange on 19 consumer programs
  • Four (4) business and 47 consumer programs will see interchange rate increases

• Effective June 7, 2022, Mastercard is instituting new indicators to identify cardholder-initiated transactions (CIT) or merchant-initiated transactions (MIT)

  • This will convey to the issuer, that the merchant and the cardholder have an agreement on stored payment credentials
  • Recurring payment indicator must be passed on all CIT CNP transaction that start the recurring payment stream effective October 14, 2022.

• Enhancements to Interregional Interchange Fee Programs:

  • Mastercard will eliminate certain interregional interchange fee programs and replace them with new interregional interchange fee programs and qualification criteria.
  • Transactions will qualify based on the following new categories;
    • Digital Commerce qualifying card not present transactions
    • Card present qualification
    • Base for non-qualified card present and card not present

Amex

• OptBlue Enablement for Telecommunications Services for MCC 4814 thats under the Other Industry Category is changing:
  • Amex is removing MCC 4814 from the prohibited list and adding it under the Other Interchange Program
• OptBlue Revisions and Service Tier Interchange Program:
  • Amex will be lowering the OptBlue Tier 3 Service threshold maximum from $250 - $150
  • The interchange percentage rate for OptBlue Tier 3 will be lowered from 1.70% to 1.65%
  • Amex is lowering OptBlue Tier 4 Service threshold minimum from $250 to $150.01.

Discover

• Discover will be modifying all existing interchange fees and rates.

  • Discover will introduce a new Charity interchange program (applicable to consumer card present and card not present sales with Merchant Category Code 8398 (Charitable and Social Service Organizations). Due to the addition of the new Charity interchange program, MCC 8398 is being removed from the eligibility requirements for PSL Emerging Markets and PSL Recurring Payments interchange programs.
  • Discover revised the transaction amount tolerance level for Grocery, Supermarkets and Warehouse Clubs.
    • Discover Revisions are from +/-10% to +/-15%.
    • The Discover transaction amount tolerance is an interchange requirement when the authorization amount and the sale amount of a purchase must be within a certain percentage. This is defined by the interchange program and/or the MCC.
    • Discovers revised the MCC eligibility requirements for Consumer Credit PSL Recurring Interchange Program
      • Discover is adding MCCs for 4814 and 4899 Telecommunications and Cable Service.
    • Discover revised the MCC eligibility for Micro Ticket and Express Services PSL Interchange Programs:
      • Discover is adding MCC 5552 Electric Vehicle Charging.

• BIN Expansion (REMINDER):

  • The Card Networks are committed to supporting the expansion to the 8-digit BIN range by April 2022
  • The BIN will no longer be the first six (6) digits of the Primary Account Number but the first eight (8) digits.

• PCI Council announced updated truncation standards