Merchants and businesses that received Visa or Mastercard credit or debit card payments between January 1, 2004 and January 25, 2019, may be eligible to claim a portion of the class action settlement that established a $5.6 billion fund. , known as “Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement.”
The class action lawsuit alleges that both Visa and Mastercard set particularly high “swipe fees” (referring to the act of swiping a card’s magnetic stripe on a POS device), which supposedly covered the costs of processing charges.
At the same time, the plaintiffs said, the two companies imposed rules that prevented merchants from redirecting customers to other payment methods. Rates were generally 1% to 2% of the purchase price set on the voucher.
Class Action Lawsuit That Lasted Almost 20 Years
Although this is a lawsuit that originated on October 20, 2005, it was not until 2024 that a definitive agreement was reached between the plaintiffs and the two international debit and credit card companies.
In 2013, a relevant court approved the settlement for $7.2 billion and both companies agreed to create two cash funds: one to pay damages to those affected and another to offer an eight-month reduction in interchange fees. This agreement fell apart in 2016 when it was rejected by a Federal Court of Appeals, which ruled that it was not suitable for some of the retailers.
In 2018, the plaintiffs and the defendant companies reached a new agreement and the final agreed amount was reduced to $5.6 billion, as more than 8,000 retailers decided not to participate in claiming compensation against Visa and Mastercard on their own, outside this agreement.
Subsequently, on March 15, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected a challenge from a group of gas station owners who argued that the proposed agreement did not resolve the question of whether large oil companies or their gas stations would receive the pay. More than 60% of gas stations are owned by individuals or families. The $5.6 billion deal was confirmed that day.
You Can Still File in This Class Action Lawsuit Against Visa and Mastercard
Before continuing, we have to warn that some scammers have created fake websites where private data and credit card numbers can be stolen through phishing schemes. They attract unsuspecting merchants by promising supposedly faster and larger payments, but, as we are telling you, they are false and very dangerous.
If your business was affected by this, you can enter the official site of the agreement www.PaymentCardSettlement.com, and you can collect a significant portion of the $5.6 billion available to plaintiffs. But you can’t wait much longer, since the final date to file a claim is August 30, 2024.
