Scheme fees are rising. Are you paying more than you should?
Scheme fees have been climbing steadily for years — and for many issuers and acquirers, due to number of fees and their complexity, they're often not fully understood. Without specialist knowledge and dedicated analytical tools, the fees you're paying are potentially higher than they need to be — and the savings available are potentially larger than you think.
Why your scheme fees may be higher than they need to be
Scheme invoices are among the most complex documents in payments, spanning hundreds of different line items across multiple lines of business, products, services and numerics. The result, at almost every organisation we work with, is the same:
You may be paying for services you don't use
Scheme fee invoices may contain charges for services that clients don't use, didn't opt into, or were automatically enrolled in by default — and without line-by-line expertise, these go undetected and unpaid month after month, year after year.
Compliance and behavioural fines compound silently
Non-compliance penalties and behavioural fees may be triggered without clients realising it — often due to sub-optimal operational setup or configuration rather than any deliberate breach — and they compound silently over time.
Even good finance teams can't catch what they can't see
The sheer complexity of scheme billing means that even well-resourced finance teams lack the specialist knowledge to identify where they are over-paying, or simply not set up in the most cost-efficient way relative to industry best practice.
The savings on offer are larger than you think
Our Scheme Fee Review typically identifies cost reduction opportunities of up to 15% of total scheme fee spend — savings that are realised within months and recur every year thereafter, making the return on investment from a single engagement transformational.
Our approach
Rigorous, fast, and requiring almost nothing from you.
Our Scheme Fee Review is deliberately designed to deliver maximum insight with minimum disruption to your business. There are no lengthy onboarding processes, no drain on internal resource, and no need to build a business case before you see results. Our team of specialist consultants — many of them former practitioners from schemes, issuers, and acquirers — gets straight to work on your invoice data, applying years of accumulated pattern recognition and an extensive repository of known cost-saving opportunities to surface findings that your internal team simply wouldn't have the tools or the time to find.
Minimal client effort required
Data gathering is a simple exercise which requires minimal client involvement — within weeks our team has a complete picture of your scheme fee spend across every line item, ICA, and business line.
Proprietary tools find what others miss
Every invoice is subjected to a rigorous line-by-line analysis using our fee simulator tool to detect anomalies, billing errors, unnecessary services, and non-compliance fees that should never have been triggered.
Four proven levers, every opportunity quantified
Cost saving opportunities are identified across opting out of unnecessary services, aligning with industry best practice, resolving erroneous scheme billing, and pursuing longer-term strategic initiatives — with every opportunity ranked by financial impact and ease of implementation.
Results delivered in weeks, not months
Within four weeks of commencement, we present a detailed findings report and action roadmap, then provide hands-on implementation support to ensure savings are actually realised — backed by ongoing tracking via SchemeSense to monitor every dollar saved.
The results
The numbers that make the decision easy.
The Scheme Fee Review is consistently one of the highest-returning engagements we deliver — not because the savings are incremental, but because they are structural, recurring, and realised fast. Clients don't just recover the cost of the engagement many times over; they walk away with a permanently lower cost base, a clearer understanding of their scheme fee exposure, and the tools to ensure savings don't erode over time.
Cost reductions are the norm, not the exception
Across a diverse global client base spanning issuers, acquirers, fintechs and BIN sponsors, we consistently identify scheme fee savings — with the largest engagements delivering tens of millions of dollars in annual savings that recur every year from the point of implementation.
Savings are realised quickly and tracked rigorously
The first cost reductions typically begin to flow within two to three months of engagement commencement, with SchemeSense monitoring realisation on an ongoing basis — ensuring that savings identified don't quietly reverse as schemes introduce new fees or change billing practices.
Billing errors and unjustified charges are recovered
Line-by-line invoice analysis frequently uncovers historical overcharging and erroneous billing that can be challenged directly with the schemes — meaning clients often recover backdated amounts in addition to achieving forward-looking cost reductions.
A permanently stronger foundation for scheme cost management
Beyond the immediate savings, clients gain a granular understanding of their scheme fee structure that informs negotiations, improves budgeting accuracy, and ensures they are never again paying for services they don't need or penalties they shouldn't be incurring.
Ready to take control of your scheme fees, announcements & interchange?
Our team of subject-matter experts is here to help you. Whether you're an issuer or an acquirer, an ISO or a PayFac, let us show you how easily and quickly SchemeSense can help you improve portfolio profitability. Book a demo today, or contact us to discuss our advisory and consultancy services.
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