Introduction

It has often been quoted that ‘a-week-is-a-long-time-in-politics’ yet the same could be said about the changing perception and quickening cadence of innovations occurring in the payments space.   

However, such a starting point overlooks the importance of the mundane and the industry-level collaboration that goes on, without fuss and behind the scenes, in the ordinary day ‘semantics’ around the standards that underpin the workings for how card payment systems operate; and enable cards to function so seamlessly.

Standard 70 is currently owned by UK Finance and is run as a Minor Business Service which is charged back to our acquirer members.

Standard 70

The key role that Standard 70 plays for card payments is to provide a protocol for passing messages (e.g. message flows, terminal prompts, receipt layouts etc) between the merchant (as referred to in the ISO standards as the ‘card acceptor’) and the acquirer, as well as guidance in how to implement those messages to deliver a common experience for the cardholder.

By using one standard, Standard 70 across the UK, it becomes easier for merchants to change acquirers as the core expectations are shared by all parties. 

This benefits both merchants and acquirers by offering a level of interoperability whilst permitting the acquirers to differentiate themselves competitively. Creating the kind of efficiencies that demonstrate an open and well-functioning market (e.g. evidenced by greater levels of switching between acquirers).

In its methodology, Standard 70 aims to be card-scheme ‘agnostic’, on the basis that any individual merchant does not want to know if the card presented is for scheme ‘A’ or ‘B’. Rather a merchant wants to be able to accept money, with the acquirer’s job to pass the correct information to the card scheme via the proprietary interpretations of ISO 8583. 

The role of the Business Standards Group

The Business Standards Group (BSG) is tasked with the responsibility of maintaining Standard 70 in line with changes in the card payments industry, primarily as driven by the card schemes through their various bulletins and bi-annual releases.

Members of the group are drawn from acquirers, vendors and terminal manufacturers on the merchant-facing and scheme-facing sides of the card payments ecosystem. This allows the group to temper card scheme and industry changes against any unforeseen impacts on the merchant estate.

The BSG meets on a regular basis (normally monthly) to review and incorporate change requests to the Standard 70 messaging protocol, that is produced twice yearly, incorporating an updated series of changes, and any other updates as may be made from card schemes and/or other key stakeholders.

Standard 70 is distributed free of charge, made open to all, and offered to those third parties who support the work of the subscribers that receive them. 

 Visa Fleet 2.0

Visa Fleet 2.0 is being mandated across the UK and Europe for businesses operating in the fuel sector and is an “open-loop” payment solution designed to provide a universal, digital-first card for fuel, electric vehicle (EV) charging, and mobility services.

It addresses the industry's shift toward electric vehicles and the need for more adaptable, digital-first, and secure expense management systems. 

Built-in to the product are things such as real-time product restrictions, real-time discounts and invoicing by the card issuer – a big change for all parties.

 Visa Fleet 2.0 and Standard 70

Last year marked an incredibly busy period for the BSG in facilitating changes brought about by the introduction of many new data elements, business processes, messages and message flows, and complex product features such as product restrictions and discounting.

The integration project has completed the first stage with UK Finance deferring its usual October release until December 2025 to specifically include changes to messaging formats and record layouts (i.e. Books 2 and 3).

The next stage of work will be aimed at guidance on message usage and point of interaction flows for a future release in Autumn 2026.

Cooperation

Members of the BSG have worked tirelessly to better understand, dissect, question and challenge themselves, and Visa, on how to implement Visa Fleet 2.0.

This has proven a real challenge and is something that should not go unnoticed. Providing yet another example in how ‘meaningful interoperability’ can be achieved by an industry forum delivering a clear and unequivocal output i.e. a usable protocol made available to all. 

So helping acquirers and merchants to integrate payment platforms that in turn encourages payment innovation, made capable in offering differing use cases/ transaction environments yet ensuring that crucial component pervades – a common user experience achieved at the point-of-sale.

Final thoughts

The role of Standard 70 belies the fundamental importance that these often-unthought-of-messaging protocols serve, yet the vast majority of UK card payment transactions are processed using the Standard 70 messaging protocol, in their journey from cardholder-to-acquirer. 

Offering an enduring legacy for why the durability of the card payment proposition and wider acquiring model persists, by supporting the functionality of ‘message switching’ through a standardised set of rules (irrespective of the payment type). 

An attribute that is only likely to carry ever more pertinence and will act as a crucial component to the ‘money multiverse aspiration’ that many policymakers wish to see enabled.

It’s effectiveness and continuation rests entirely on the technical expertise and collaborative efforts of the card payments industry to support it.  That fundamental input remains the bedrock for how the standard has become an evolving and ever constant feature that continues to support the ubiquitous use of cards.