New Visa fees – One more reason to switch to 2-step payment flow
Industry
Updated 8 May 2026
2 min
Andrii Kononenko
Head of Merchant Operations, Solidgate
Simpler settlement, reduced errors, and financial protection - discover how Solidgate’s 2-step payment flow keeps transactions compliant and fee-free.
Visa introduced Processing Integrity Program fees in Europe, effective July 2023. These fees will be applied to transactions that do not comply with the required processing integrity standards.
We at value your convenience and savings. By transitioning to a secure 2-step payment flow, you can not only simplify your transaction process but also avoid the new Visa fees. The switch from the 1-step flow ensures smoother transactions while safeguarding your financial interests.
New processing integrity program fees
Visa’s Processing Integrity Program is designed to uphold two fundamental principles: the necessity of authorization and the clearance (or reversal) of approved authorizations. This program serves as a crucial safeguard against issues like erroneous authorizations and force-post transactions that can impact cardholders. The following fees will be assessed for domestic and international transactions that are not authorized, reversed, or cleared as required:
Processing Integrity Program fees
| Visa fee name | Details |
|---|---|
| Misuse of authorization system | Per-transaction fee assessed monthly for each authorization that cannot be matched to a clearing transaction (or authorization reversal) within the required time frame |
| Misuse of authorization system-merch return | Per-transaction fee assessed monthly for each merchandise return (refund) authorization that cannot be matched to a clearing transaction (or authorization reversal) within the required time frame |
| Unmatched clearing | Per-transaction fee assessed monthly for each clearing transaction that cannot be matched to an authorization within the defined time frame |
| Unmatched clearing-merch return | Per-transaction fee assessed monthly for each return clearing transaction that cannot be matched to an authorization within the defined time frame |
Current Visa fee rate (Europe, as of 2026): $0.05 / transaction
(Initial rate was $0.01 / transaction from July 2023; increased to $0.05 from July 2024 and remains at this level.)
Avoid the new fees with a 2-step payment flow
If you use Solidgate’s feature:
- it is required to send us the
settle_intervalparameter in each payment request withtype:auth - it is necessary to manually initiate the settlement process, if you send a
settle_intervalwithnull - you may initiate a partial settlement before the time interval expires, which will automatically
voidthe remaining hold amount - it is necessary to monitor order status to be sure the order is successfully settled
settle_okand void orders that are not settled after the time interval expires
If you don’t use the auto-settle feature:
- submit money capturing exclusively for valid orders with the
auth_okstatuses through the - always promptly cancel mistaken money holds on users’ accounts using the
- monitor order status to be sure the order is successfully settled and void orders with
auth_okstatus that are not settled
We encourage you to if you haven’t done so yet.
- Always secure authorization before submitting clearing transactions to maintain compliance.
- Void authorizations that won’t be cleared within the defined time frame to prevent potential issues.
- Process reversals for cardholder-canceled transactions and erroneous authorizations promptly.
This transition not only shields you from unnecessary expenses but also ensures a smoother, more secure transaction experience.
