About the Case
Visa Master Card Class Action Lawsuit
Visa Master Card Class Action Lawsuit
In re Payment Card Interchange Fee Antitrust Litigation alleges that Visa® and MasterCard® fixed interchange fees at anti-competitive levels in violation of US antitrust law. The Court has preliminarily approved a proposed settlement of a maximum of approximately $6.24 billion and a minimum of at least $5.54 billion in a class action lawsuit, called In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, MDL 1720 (MKB) (JO).
The lawsuit is about claims that merchants paid excessive fees to accept Visa and MasterCard cards because Visa and MasterCard, individually, and together with their respective member banks, violated the antitrust laws.
All persons, businesses, and other entities that have accepted any Visa-Branded Cards and/or MasterCard-Branded Cards in the United States at any time from January 1, 2004 to January 25, 2019, except that the Rule 23(b)(3) Settlement Class shall not include (a) the Dismissed Plaintiffs, (b) the United States government, (c) the named Defendants in this Action or their directors, officers, or members of their families, or (d) financial institutions that have issued Visa-Branded Cards or MasterCard-Branded Cards or acquired Visa-Branded Card transactions or MasterCard- Branded Card transactions at any time from January 1, 2004 to January 25, 2019.
Plaintiffs in the Rule 23(b)(3) Class (Money Damages Class) have reached a proposed settlement in this action. Materials reflecting this proposed settlement were filed September 18, 2018 with the Court. Claim forms are being delivered and are available online beginning December 1, 2023. If the settlement is approved, 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.