Mastercard now bills every online pharmacy transaction and requires written consent to acquire them
The August 2026 rules edition carries Mastercard's rewritten Specialty Merchant Registration Program: online pharmacies stay a registered category, acquirers need Mastercard's written consent to acquire them, and since June every registered transaction carries new network fees.
Mastercard's Security Rules and Procedures, Merchant Edition dated 4 August 2026, lists non face to face pharmaceutical merchants under MCC 5122 and 5912 as specialty merchants that must be registered, with every website URL, before acquiring. New section 9.1.1 requires Mastercard's express prior written consent to acquire for specialty merchants from 1 May 2026. Section 9.4.3 requires the acquirer to verify each pharmacy's legal compliance at registration, by legal opinion or accreditation by a recognized third party, and to reconfirm it at least every twelve months.
Bulletin 12568.1 sets the fees: the annual registration fee rises to USD 1,000 per merchant and a USD 50,000 High Risk Acquirer License Fee applies from 1 May 2026; a Specialty Merchant Transaction Fee of USD 0.02 and a Volume Fee of 10 basis points apply to registered merchants' purchases and credits from 3 June 2026, first billed 14 June.
- Online and mail order pharmacies acquired card not present under MCC 5122 or 5912.
- Acquirers and payment facilitators that board them.
Applies to card not present pharmacy merchants coded MCC 5122 or 5912 and to the acquirers that board them. A storefront pharmacy's card present volume is outside the program.
| Source published | August 4, 2026 | Security Rules and Procedures, Merchant Edition, 4 August 2026. |
|---|---|---|
| Effective | May 1, 2026 | Prior written consent rule; updated registration fee; high risk acquirer licence fee. |
| Effective | June 3, 2026 | Specialty merchant transaction fee and volume fee, first billed 14 June 2026. |
| Effective | October 1, 2026 | Prior consent rule in most of the Europe region. |
Two things moved. Every registered online pharmacy transaction on Mastercard now costs about ten basis points plus two cents more, and acquirers began passing that through in June. And an acquirer's compliance file on each pharmacy is now a network requirement with a twelve month clock, which is why acquirers ask for a certification at boarding and again at renewal.
- Check a June or July statement for new Mastercard specialty merchant fee lines.
- Ask your acquirer when your next twelve month reverification falls and what it will need.
- Confirm every URL you take payments on is registered with your acquirer.
Payment and Compliance History. The Payment and Compliance History domain covers a pharmacy's standing with its acquirer and the card networks. The specialty merchant registration and its twelve month reverification are the network side of that record.
- Security Rules and Procedures, Merchant Edition, 4 August 2026, Chapter 9: Specialty Merchant Registration Program PrimaryMastercardRetrieved Sep 21, 2026
Sections 9.1, 9.1.1, 9.1.2, 9.2.1 and 9.4.3, pages 111 to 119.
- AP/LAC/MEA/US 12568.1, New and Updated Specialty Merchant Registration Program Fees, published 28 October 2025 SecondaryMastercard (copy hosted by a payment processor; the original is distributed through Mastercard Connect)AP/LAC/MEA/US 12568.1Retrieved Sep 21, 2026
Effective date details; billing and pricing information table.
Know where your pharmacy stands before the rules change again.
Certified pharmacies are re-verified nightly against state boards, federal enforcement records and their own websites.