EU co-badged card requirements: the merchant's guide

Last updated: October 2026

If you accept cards in Europe, the EU co-badged card requirements are now a live compliance question, not a future one. Regulators have moved from writing the rules to enforcing them, and merchants that get card acceptance wrong can face fines. The good news: meeting the requirements is straightforward once you understand what the law asks for and where checkout design fits in.

Visa and Mastercard have historically dominated the global card ecosystem, and today, alongside China's UnionPay, they account for the lion's share of global card payment volume. But the global card networks aren't the only game in town.

In many markets you'll find a domestic card scheme running alongside these giants: Cartes Bancaires in France, Dankort in Denmark, mada in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, eftpos in Australia. Often these also carry Visa or Mastercard badges, giving rise to the co-badged card. In Europe, regulation sets out how merchants should accept payments on co-badged cards, and that regulation is now being enforced.

This article covers what co-badged cards are, how Regulation (EU) 2015/751 affects merchants, and how Primer helps you meet the requirements.

What is a co-badged card?

A co-badged card is a debit or credit card that carries a global network logo (Visa or Mastercard) plus a domestic scheme such as Dankort. Take Dankort as an example. Introduced in 1983, it became integral to Danish card payments and is government-regulated to keep transaction fees low, which makes it cheaper for merchants and helps lower consumer prices.

Most Dankort cards also carry Visa, which enables international use and gives customers a choice. A shopper might prefer Visa for an airline booking or another high-value purchase where its customer protection is stronger. France works the same way: around 95% of cards are co-badged with Cartes Bancaires and a global network, though French consumers are typically less aware of how each network differs.

Want to see how leading merchants build compliant, high-converting checkouts? Book a demo with Primer.

Understand the EU co-badged card requirements (Regulation (EU) 2015/751)

Card networks built the rails of international commerce, but payments are increasingly political. Legislators worry about power concentrated in two American companies and one Chinese company. That concern is pushing more countries to launch their own card schemes (Indonesia is a recent example) and prompting lawmakers to write rules for a level playing field, so consumers can choose their preferred scheme.

Europe took a proactive stance with Regulation (EU) 2015/751, known as the interchange fee regulation (IFR). It has been in force since 2015, so merchants have had roughly a decade to adapt. Enforcement is no longer theoretical: regulators are now actively policing compliance and issuing fines for merchants that fall short.

Two articles govern co-badged card acceptance.

• Article 10: the 'Honour All Cards' rule. Paragraph four clarifies that merchants aren't obligated to accept every scheme, but they must communicate clearly which schemes they do accept.
• Article 8: co-badging and choice. When a merchant supports both networks on a co-badged card, the customer must be free to decide which network to use. This is the payment scheme selection that sits at the heart of the rules. For a merchant-initiated transaction (MIT), a payment the merchant triggers on the customer's behalf, such as a subscription renewal, you must process on the network the customer originally selected. Merchants can set a default option to optimize costs, and PSD2 removed surcharging by payment method or network, so a default doesn't penalise the shopper.

Merchant co-badged card compliance checklist

Use this checklist to confirm your checkout meets the EU co-badged card requirements:

• Display all networks. Show every scheme a co-badged card supports, so the choice is visible to the cardholder.
• Let the cardholder choose. Give the customer control over payment scheme selection rather than deciding for them.
• Honor the choice for MITs. For any merchant-initiated transaction (MIT), process on the network the customer first selected.
• Set a sensible default. Pre-select a cost-effective network as the default, while keeping the customer free to change it.

How to meet co-badged card requirements with Primer

Meeting co-badged card requirements sounds simple: give customers the option to choose which network processes their payment. The challenge is doing that without adding unnecessary friction, creating avoidable declines, or losing control over payment costs.

Primer Checkout helps you handle that choice only when it is relevant.

1. Show network choice only when it is required: Asking every customer to choose a card network would add an unnecessary step to checkout. Primer uses BIN data to identify co-badged cards and only presents the network choice to customers who need to see it. Everyone else moves through checkout as normal, helping you meet the requirement without adding friction across every transaction.
2. Reduce avoidable routing errors and declines: Network selection only matters when more than one scheme is available on the card. By identifying co-badged cards before presenting a choice, Primer helps prevent irrelevant or incorrect network selections from entering the payment flow, reducing the risk of avoidable declines.
3. Keep more control over payment costs: Customers may naturally choose the network they recognize most, but that is not always the most cost-effective option for your business. Primer lets you configure the default scheme shown for eligible co-badged cards, giving you more influence over routing while still preserving the customer’s right to choose.

Simplify co-badged card compliance with Primer

EU co-badged card requirements are part of a broader shift towards greater consumer choice and competition between payment schemes. Similar models already exist in markets such as Australia and Saudi Arabia, and merchants operating internationally may need to manage an increasingly varied set of card scheme rules.

That makes co-badged card compliance more than a one-off checkout change. You need a payment setup that can adapt to different schemes, markets, and regulatory requirements without adding unnecessary friction for customers.

Primer helps you manage that complexity in one place, from identifying co-badged cards and presenting the right network choices to controlling routing and checkout logic.

Ready to meet the EU co-badged card requirements without adding checkout friction? See how Primer Checkout works and build a compliant, high-converting payment flow.

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Frequently asked questions (FAQ): EU Co-badged card requirements 

What is a co-badged card?

A co-badged card is a debit or credit card that carries two payment networks, typically a global network (Visa or Mastercard) and a domestic card scheme such as Dankort in Denmark or Cartes Bancaires in France. The customer can pay using either network.

What are the EU co-badged card requirements?

Under EU rules, merchants that accept co-badged cards must display the networks a card supports, let the cardholder choose which network to use, honour that choice for merchant-initiated transactions, and communicate clearly which schemes they accept. Merchants may set a default network but cannot force the customer's selection.

What is Regulation (EU) 2015/751?

Regulation (EU) 2015/751 is the EU's interchange fee regulation (IFR), in force since 2015. It caps interchange fees and sets rules for card acceptance. Articles 8 and 10 cover co-badging, cardholder choice, and how merchants communicate the schemes they accept.

Do merchants have to accept all card networks?

No. Under the 'Honour All Cards' rule (Article 10, paragraph four), merchants aren't required to accept every scheme. They must, however, clearly communicate which schemes they do accept, and where they support both networks on a co-badged card, let the customer choose.

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