How Visa and Mastercard Make Money Without Issuing a Single Credit Card

Visa and Mastercard connect merchants with banks, and the fees their networks set help decide how the money from each card purchase is split among companies.

They route authorization messages and coordinate settlement while issuing banks provide the cards and credit.

In the explainer's 100 dollar purchase example, a merchant pays 2.50, the issuing bank receives 2.00, the processor keeps 0.35 and the network takes 0.15; actual fees vary.

Visa nets participants' debits and credits to settle, with its maximum daily exposure reaching 137.4 billion dollars in fiscal 2024 and 11.2 billion held to cover a member bank failing to settle.

Its operating rules govern participation and disputes, and the June 2026 explainer describes a 600 dollar review fee when an unresolved dispute reaches Visa.

Merchants accept card costs to reach customers, while issuing banks use their share to fund rewards and cover lending risk.

That gives merchants and cardholders competing interests when policymakers or courts seek to change how much a transaction costs.

Merchants still face a wait for changes to the fees they pay. Payments Dive reported preliminary approval on June 9, 2026 for a deal reducing average interchange by ten basis points for five years and capping standard consumer card rates at 1.25 percent for eight. Large retailers argued they cannot easily refuse the expensive rewards cards customers prefer. The court authorized settlement website distinguishes this proposed rule change from the separate cash settlement and says final approval has not been granted. The next test is the fairness hearing listed for November 16, 2026.