Visa/MC Interchange Fee Settlement
In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation | MDL No. 1720] ("Settlement").
Visa, MasterCard, and the Defendant Banks have officially reached a settlement on interchange fees. The Court granted final approval of this Settlement on December 13, 2019, and will establish a claims process whereby eligible merchants will be able to claim their share of the billions in settlement funds.
Update: The next step in the possible resolution of appeals and progress toward the potential establishment of a claim submission process was announced on December 16, 2021. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has set oral argument regarding objections (appeals) to final approval of the Settlement for March 16, 2022. Additional details will be provided as they become available.
Overview
Settlement Fund: $5.54 billion Settlement Period: January 1, 2004 - January 25, 2019
Claim Filing Deadline: TBD
The lawsuit claims that merchants paid excessive interchange fees for accepting Visa and MasterCard because of an alleged conspiracy among the Defendants.
If your business accepted Visa or MasterCard payments any time from January 1, 2004 to January 25, 2019, you may be eligible to recover significant funds from this pending Settlement. Although the claim forms are not yet available and the filing deadline for claim submission has not been announced, you can engage MCAG now to ensure that a proper and timely claim is filed on behalf of your business.
Settlement Recovery Service Details
Our service includes the following:
Gather relevant business and payment information that may be available from our payment card processing partners.
Triangulate this data with the Settlement database(s) and other available sources.
File a complete and accurate claim into the settlement in an effort to maximize your return.
Reconcile with the Settlement Administrator to help ensure that you receive a proper and timely recovery.
The Settlement covers transactions dating back to 2004. Therefore, to compile as complete of a claim as possible, MCAG’s Settlement Recovery HUB gives merchants the opportunity to provide all of their current merchant IDs, business names, locations and processor names. You may also provide merchant information for a location that has closed that you owned during the settlement period.
Providing as much of your historical information as possible will help MCAG to attempt to access all available data and file a comprehensive claim. If historical information is missing, and if the Settlement allows, MCAG will also work with the Settlement Administrator to create an estimate that is supported by data.
Need more information? Call MCAG at 1-800-355-0466 to learn more or CLICK HERE to complete our contact form and an MCAG representative will respond shortly.
Payment Card Settlement Disclaimer: On December 13, 2019 the Court granted final approval of the settlement filed on September 18, 2018 for the Rule 23(b)(3) Class Plaintiffs in this action. No claim forms are available at this time, and no claim-filing deadline exists. No-cost assistance will be available from the Class Administrator and Class Counsel during any claims-filing period. No one is required to sign up with any third-party service in order to participate in any settlement. For additional information regarding the status of the litigation, interested persons may visit www.paymentcardsettlement.com, the Court-approved website for this case.