Scheme compliance, also known as payment network compliance or card network compliance, is the comprehensive process of adhering to the rules, requirements, and standards set by major payment card networks, including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB, and other regional schemes.
At its core, scheme compliance revolves around three critical components:
These are specific directives issued by payment schemes that govern how all participants in the payment ecosystem must operate. Card network mandates cover technical specifications, security protocols, operational procedures, and reporting requirements. Every mandate comes with specific implementation deadlines and compliance criteria that must be met to maintain good standing with the payment network.
Beyond individual mandates, payment schemes operate comprehensive compliance programs that monitor ongoing adherence to their standards. These include programs like Visa's Electronic Data Quality Program, Mastercard's Data Integrity Monitoring Program (DIMP), and various fraud monitoring initiatives. Each program has specific thresholds, reporting requirements, and consequences for non-compliance.
This involves maintaining proper communication and working relationships with payment network representatives, participating in industry consultations, and ensuring your organisation stays informed about upcoming changes to network requirements.
The payments industry uses several interconnected terms that often cause confusion:
While the terminology varies by region, they all refer to the same fundamental challenge: ensuring your organisation meets the evolving requirements of payment card networks to maintain your ability to issue cards and process payments.
Payment network compliance extends far beyond simple rule-following. It represents a multi-layered discipline that touches virtually every aspect of a financial institution's operations:
Card network mandates frequently require significant technical changes to core systems. A few examples include:
Payment network compliance affects day-to-day operations through requirements for:
Scheme compliance directly impacts your bottom line through:
Payment network requirements often intersect with regional regulations, creating complex compliance scenarios where organisations must satisfy both scheme rules and local regulatory requirements simultaneously.
Think of payment network compliance as managing a complex ecosystem where technical, operational, financial, and regulatory requirements constantly evolve, each with specific deadlines and implementation criteria that can significantly impact your business if not properly managed.
The consequences of inadequate payment network compliance extend far beyond simple financial penalties. For card issuers and issuing banks, effective scheme compliance management is crucial to maintaining business continuity and a competitive edge.
Non-compliance with card network mandates can result in:
Beyond immediate penalties, poor network compliance management creates:
Traditional approaches to scheme compliance management create hidden costs that many organisations underestimate:
The financial impact extends beyond direct costs. Organisations with inefficient payment network compliance processes often discover market opportunities too late, miss revenue-generating features, or face unexpected costs from newly implemented scheme fees.
Effective scheme compliance management affects every level of an organisation, but the specific challenges vary significantly based on role and responsibility. Understanding these diverse perspectives is crucial for implementing comprehensive compliance solutions that address real operational needs.
Card Payment Operations Managers serve as the critical bridge between scheme bulletins and operational implementation. They face several persistent challenges in managing network compliance.
Information management challenges:
Operational coordination issues:
IT Managers and Technical Teams bear responsibility for implementing the technical aspects of card network mandates, but they often work with incomplete or delayed information about scheme requirements.
Technical implementation challenges:
Resource and priority management:
While operations teams focus on implementation, strategic teams must identify how scheme compliance can drive business value and innovation opportunities.
Card and Product Managers are uniquely positioned to transform card network mandates from compliance burdens into product differentiation opportunities, but they often lack timely access to relevant scheme information.
Product development challenges:
Market timing issues:
Digital Innovation and Transformation Managers must balance innovation goals with the practical realities of network compliance requirements, often finding that compliance work consumes resources intended for strategic initiatives.
Innovation management challenges:
Strategic planning obstacles:
Senior leadership bears ultimate responsibility for payment network compliance outcomes, requiring comprehensive visibility into compliance status and associated business risks.
Chief Financial Officers and Finance Teams must manage the financial implications of scheme compliance while ensuring accurate budget planning and risk assessment.
Financial risk management:
Budget and planning challenges:
Scheme and Network Compliance Managers serve as the central coordinators of payment network compliance efforts, but they often struggle with resource constraints and the complexity of managing multiple network relationships simultaneously.
Operational management challenges:
Strategic positioning issues:
The traditional compliance process is a recipe for stress and mistakes:
This process breaks down at every step. People miss emails, spreadsheets become outdated, and critical deadlines slip through the cracks
Here's what effective scheme compliance should look like:
The challenge? Executing this checklist manually is nearly impossible for most organisations. Each step requires coordination, documentation, and follow-up that manual processes simply can't handle effectively.
Manual compliance management fails because it relies on people to perfectly execute repetitive, complex tasks without making mistakes. It assumes perfect communication and assumes nothing will slip through the cracks.
In reality:
A centralised knowledge hub, like Kajo, transforms scheme compliance from a manual burden into an automated, strategic function. Here's how:
Gathering Instead of checking multiple portals daily, the system monitors all scheme updates automatically and delivers relevant information to your team.
Advanced filtering ensures you only see bulletins that matter to your business, while expert analysis helps you understand complex requirements quickly.
The platform automatically assigns tasks to the right people, tracks progress, and sends reminders to ensure deadlines are met.
Every action is logged automatically, creating the necessary documentation for audits and regulatory reviews.
Teams can discuss specific mandates in context, share updates, and coordinate responses without endless email chains.
Organisations that have moved from manual to automated compliance management report dramatic improvements:
Worldline transformed its approach to managing compliance across multiple schemes. With over 150 monthly publications to track, their manual process was unsustainable. Automation allowed them to manage risk more effectively and spot opportunities their competitors missed.
PostFinance used automated compliance management to create an official roadmap for modernising its scheme compliance function. The Head of Scheme Management noted that automation made critical information "available and up-to-date without manual intervention.".
Cornèrcard simplified their entire compliance process, while Bank Frick completely transformed how they handle scheme requirements.
The common theme? Moving from reactive, manual processes to proactive, automated management doesn't just reduce work, it creates competitive advantages.
Effective compliance management delivers value beyond just avoiding fines:
The compliance landscape continues to evolve rapidly. New payment methods, changing regulations, and increasing scheme requirements mean the volume and complexity of compliance work will only grow.
Organisations that stick with manual processes will find themselves increasingly disadvantaged. Those that embrace automation and centralised management will turn compliance from a cost centre into a strategic asset.
The question isn't whether to modernise your compliance function; it's how quickly you can make the transition.
The complexity of modern scheme compliance demands a new approach. Manual, fragmented processes create risk, waste resources, and miss opportunities.
A centralised, automated approach:
The organisations that recognise this shift early will have a significant advantage over those that continue struggling with manual processes.
If your team is spending dozens of hours each week on manual compliance tasks, missing important deadlines, or struggling to demonstrate compliance to auditors, it's time for a change.
Ready to transform your scheme compliance from a manual burden into a strategic asset? The technology exists today to automate the entire compliance workflow, from bulletin monitoring to audit reporting.