Card Scheme

A card scheme is the payment network and set of rules that enable debit, credit, and prepaid card transactions between cardholders, merchants, acquiring banks, and issuing banks.

Major global schemes include Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and UnionPay. They provide the infrastructure, security standards, and settlement processes that make electronic card payments possible worldwide.

When a card payment is made, the card scheme routes the transaction from the merchant’s acquirer to the cardholder’s issuer, authorises it, and facilitates settlement — usually taking a scheme fee as part of the process.

Example:

A customer pays with a Visa debit card at a UK retailer. The Visa card scheme securely routes the payment details between the retailer’s bank and the customer’s bank, ensuring the transaction is authorised and settled.

Used in:

Card acquiring, merchant payments, e-commerce processing, and financial infrastructure.