by Matt Rej
Visa just announced major changes to its Digital Commerce Service Fee for April 2026 and April 2027, including higher rates and new categories it applies to.
We’ll break down everything you need to know about the VS US DIGITAL COMMERCE SERVICE FEE below.
What is the Visa Digital Commerce Service Fee?
Visa Digital Commerce Service applies to all card-not-present transactions.
According to Visa, this assessment helps promote fraud prevention while mitigating risks associated with online transactions. Essentially, they’re putting this money toward anti-fraud technology—which is crucial for CNP and online transactions (which is why merchants in this space are paying the fee).
New Visa Digital Commerce Service Fee Rate Effective April 2026
Effective 4/1/2026, Visa’s new Digital Commerce Service Fee will be assessed at:
- 0.015% with a $0.01 minimum on domestic transactions
- 0.035% with a $0.01 minimum on cross-border transactions
In addition to the rate increase, Visa is applying this fee to four additional services:
- TAVV – Transaction Authentication Verification Value
- VAU/RT-VAU – Visa Account Updater/Real-Time Visa Account Updater
- VDCU – Visa Digital Commerce Service Update
- VCES – Visa Credit Exception Service
AVS, CVV2, and MIT Services will continue being charged the fee as well.
Another Rate Increase Planned for 2027
At the time of the 2026 increase, Visa simultaneously announced another planned increase for its Digital Commerce Service Fee that goes into effect on April 1, 2027 as follows:
- 0.0225% with a $0.0125 minimum on domestic transactions
- 0.0525% with a $0.0125 minimum on cross-border transactions
History of Visa’s Digital Commerce Service Fee
Visa introduced the Digital Commerce Service fee in October of 2023.
The original rate was 0.0075% on settled CNP transactions (with a $0.0075 minimum).
At the same time that this fee was announced, Visa simultaneously removed two fees that were previously charged on card-not-present transactions in the United States:
- CVV2 Verification Fee — $0.0025 per transaction
- Address Verification Service (AVS) Fee — $0.001 per transaction
While the total of these two fees doesn’t quite come to the same amount as the Digital Commerce Service fee, it still lessens the burden on merchants who are assessed this new charge.
When we take the partial offset into consideration, the fee itself is quite small compared to assessment fees.
Is the Visa Digital Commerce Service Fee Only For Ecommerce Merchants?
No. Visa’s Digital Commerce Service Fee applies to all card-not-present transactions. This includes ecommerce merchants, but it’s not limited to that category alone.
Some businesses without an online presence are confused as to why they’re being charged this fee. But the following types of transactions also fall into the CNP category:
- Phone payments
- Mail order purchases
- Automatic billing
- Card-on-file transactions
- Manually keyed transactions
If you’re still not sure why you’re being charged the Visa Digital Commerce Service fee, just reach out to our team at Merchant Cost Consulting for assistance. We’ll audit your statements and provide some additional context to your charges. Plus, we may even find some hidden fees that should be removed (and potentially reimbursed).