Maestro Global Rules (PDF) - MasterCard

Settlement and Reconciliation
10.8 Establishment of Intracountry Interchange and Service Fees
If intracountry interchange and service fees are not established by the
Corporation, such fees may be established in one of two ways: by agreement
of Customers in the country as set forth in Rule 10.8.1 of this rulebook, or
by application of intraregional interchange and service fees to Intracountry
Transactions as set forth in Rule 10.8.2. Such fees may also be established
by bilateral agreement between two Customers as set forth in Rule 10.8.3 of
this rulebook.
For any Transaction that is subject to a bilateral agreement between two
Customers, the interchange and service fees set forth in the bilateral agreement
prevail.
For any Transaction that is not subject to a bilateral agreement between two
Customers, the default intracountry fees established by the Corporation apply,
or if none, the default intracountry fees established by Customers pursuant
to these Rules apply, or if none, the intraregional fees apply, or if none, the
interregional fees apply. Any multilateral Customer fee agreement must comply
with all requirements set forth in Rule 10.8.1 of this rulebook. The Corporation
reserves the right to determine if multiple bilateral agreements are deemed to
be a multilateral agreement.
10.8.1 Default Intracountry Fees
If permitted by local law, default fees applicable to Intracountry Transactions
for a country may be established by the affirmative vote of Customers that hold
a License for the country and represent at least 75 percent of the intracountry
issuing Volume (excluding on-us Volume) and at least 75 percent of the
intracountry acquiring Volume (excluding on-us Volume) in the preceding
calendar year. To be effective, and in addition to the foregoing, intracountry
fallback fees must be agreed to by at least two Acquirers and at least two Issuers
Licensed to engage in Activity in the country. Once effective, intracountry
fallback fees remain in effect until revised by Customers pursuant to these
Rules or by the Corporation.
Intracountry default fees established by Customers must be established with the
purpose of encouraging the widespread use and acceptance of Cards, must be
justifiable, must not jeopardize the integrity of the Interchange System, must
not conflict with the Standards, and must be reviewed periodically (typically,
every one to three years) and revised as appropriate.
Customers that establish intracountry default fees must promptly provide the
Corporation with a copy of such fees and any subsequent change to the fees.
Customers must be notified of intracountry default fees and any change thereto
well in advance of the effective date, unless exceptional circumstances make
this impossible. Exceptional circumstances generally must relate to events
beyond the control of Customers; in the event of dispute or uncertainty, the
Corporation determines if notice was effective. Intracountry default fees that
have not been provided to and acknowledged by the Corporation as effective
as of a certain date are not effective.
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10-6 9 November 2012 • Maestro Global Rules