The network access and brand usage fee is a $0.0185 per transaction fee established by Mastercard in the spring of 2009.  It is similar to assessments, in that the fee is kept by mastercard, not passed along to the credit card issuing banks.  This fee replaces a $0.005 per transaction fee.

Visa at the same time established a similar fee called the Acquirer Processing Fee, a $0.019 per transaction fee which also replaces a previously $0.005 per transaction fee.

The April issue of Digital Transactions magazine estimates that the NABU will generate an additional $185M each year for Mastercard.