Visa Mastercard Interchange Fee Class Action Settlement [2023]: Did Your Company Accept Visa or Mastercard Branded Credit or Debit Cards in the U.S. Between 1/1/2004 to 1/25/2019?

If your company accepted Visa or Mastercard branded credit or debit cards in the U.S. between January 1, 2004 and January 25, 2019, it may be entitled to money from the Visa Mastercard interchange fee antitrust class action lawsuit settlement.

A team of class action attorneys and antitrust lawyers is investigating and assisting claimants in the filing of settlement claims in the Visa Mastercard interchange fee antitrust class action lawsuit settlement.

The Visa Mastercard interchange fee settlement resolves a class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against defendants Visa, Mastercard and various banks, styled In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 1720 (Judge Margo K. Brodie) alleging, among other things, that defendants caused merchants to pay excessive “interchange fees” on payment card transactions, in violation of antitrust laws.

An interchange fee is the transaction fee that a business must pay (usually around 1% to 2% of the purchase price) when a cardholder makes a purchase with a Visa (including Plus, Interlink, etc.) or Mastercard (including Maestro, Cirrus, etc.) branded credit or debit card.

Visa Mastercard Class Action Settlement Claims

Under the Visa Mastercard class action settlement, Visa, Mastercard and the various bank defendants will pay $5.54 billion into a settlement fund to pay money to Visa Mastercard Settlement Class members who file timely and valid settlement claims (“claimants”).

Who Is Eligible To Receive a Settlement Payment From The Visa Mastercard Settlement

In order to qualify for settlement benefits under the Visa Mastercard interchange fee class action settlement, a claimant must be a member of the “Settlement Class.” The Visa Mastercard settlement includes as Settlement Class members the following, unless otherwise excluded:

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…

Visa branded cards include, among others, Visa, Plus and Interlink. Mastercard branded cards include, among others, Mastercard, Maestro and Cirrus. Excluded from the settlement is the United States government, the named Defendants (or their directors, officers, or members of their families), financial institutions that issued Visa-Branded Cards or Mastercard Branded Cards or acquired Visa-Branded Card transactions and certain plaintiffs who previously settled and dismissed their own lawsuits against a Defendant in the litigation.

It is believed that there may be more than 12 million class members in the settlement who may be eligible to receive settlement payments.

How Much Money Can Class Members Receive From The Visa Mastercard Interchange Fee Settlement

The amount paid to claimants from the settlement fund will be based on a merchant’s actual or estimated interchange fees attributable to Visa and Mastercard branded card transactions (between the merchant and its customers) from January 1, 2004 to January 25, 2019 (“class period”).

The Class Administrator (Epiq Systems, Inc.) will estimate the total value of interchange fees paid attributable to each authorized claimant on its Visa and Mastercard card transactions during the class period, utilizing data from Defendants and others, in order to calculate a class member’s estimated claim value under the Mastercard/Visa settlement.

Once the actual or estimated amount of interchange fees paid attributable to each claimant is ascertained, the Class Administrator will provide such information (and the manner in which the claimant’s claim value was calculated) to the claimant, who will be able to elect to accept or contest the accuracy of the interchange fees paid information.

Where the necessary data is not available to the Class Administrator to estimate a class member’s interchange fees paid or if the class member disputes the interchange fees paid claim value estimated by the Class Administrator, the class member will be required to submit additional information in support of its claim.

The amount of money class members receive from the settlement fund will depend on the money available to pay all claims, the total dollar value of all valid claims filed (claimants receive a pro rata share), the cost of class administration and notice, taxes on the settlement fund and other related tax expenses, attorneys’ fees and expenses, and money awards to the Class Plaintiffs for serving as class representatives.

How Claimants Can Receive A Settlement Payment From The Visa Mastercard Antitrust Settlement

To receive a payment under the Mastercard/Visa class action settlement, claimants must submit a claim form. Claim forms are not yet available.

If your company received a “Notice of Class Action Settlement” in the mail, a Claim Form should be mailed or emailed to your company automatically. A Claim Form will be posted on the settlement website and available by calling the Class Administrator. Class members (or their representatives) will be able to submit claims electronically on the settlement website or by email or by returning a paper Claim Form.

For additional information about the settlement, class members can visit the Court-approved website at www.paymentcardsettlement.com.

Mastercard Visa Class Action Settlement Updates

• September 2023: A status conference was held on Sep. 7, 2023.

• August 2023: The time for appeals has passed. The parties are currently preparing for administration of the claims process. On August 3, 2023 the District Court appointed a Special Master to resolve any disputes or matters relating to the Plan of Administration and Distribution.

Connect With An Attorney To Help Recover Money From The Visa Mastercard Settlement

Unfortunately, every year, companies (both large and small) fail to recover millions of dollars available to them from antitrust class action lawsuit settlements. Some companies don’t know about the class action settlements. Others know they may be entitled to recover money, but don’t have the time, resources or information to participate. 

According to the Court in this case, no-cost assistance will be available from the Class Administrator and Class Counsel during the claims-filing period and class members need not sign up for a third-party service in order to participate in any monetary relief under the settlement.

However, in large antitrust class action settlements, collecting, organizing and reviewing the necessary data and information for a claim and preparing and filing it (and following-up on and working with a claims administrator and/or class counsel to resolve issues that may arise after filing) can be complicated, resource intensive and time consuming.

For these reasons and others, class members may prefer to engage their own attorneys to act on their behalf (on a contingency basis, i.e., they are paid a percentage of any recovery made) to handle the settlement claim process, identify potential settlement claims, research and gather information and supporting documentation (many class members may have incomplete or missing data), analyze data, prepare and submit claim forms, correspond with the claims administrator and/or class counsel and make sure settlement payments are properly made.

Time Is Limited To File A Settlement Claim

The Court will set a deadline for members of the Settlement Class to submit claims in the Mastercard Visa interchange fee antitrust class action settlement. In order to be considered valid, Claim Forms must be submitted to the Class Administrator, addressed in accordance with the instructions on the Claim Form, by or before the claims deadline, unless such deadline is extended by order of the Court.

That is why it is important to connect with an antitrust lawyer or class action attorney as soon as possible if you wish to have an attorney help your company recover money under the Visa Mastercard settlement.

If your company accepted Visa or Mastercard branded credit or debit cards in the U.S. from January 1, 2004 to January 25, 2019, it may be entitled to recover money from the Visa Mastercard interchange fee class action settlement. Contact a class action antitrust lawyer to request a free attorney claim review.

*The listing of a company is not meant to state or imply that the company acted illegally or improperly.

**The use of any trademarks, tradenames or service marks is solely for product identification and/or informational purposes.

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