If your business accepted Visa and/or Mastercard payments from January 1, 2004, to January 25, 2019, you might qualify to receive a portion of a massive $5.54 billion settlement from the Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement Litigation. This lawsuit claims that Mastercard, Visa, and various banks inflated the fees charged per card swipe, breaching antitrust laws. Represented by multiple law firms, this case has become the largest antitrust class-action settlement in history.
To benefit from this settlement, you need to SUBMIT A CLAIM by the newly extended deadline of August 30, 2024.
Recently, there’s been an increase in inquiries about the Visa and Mastercard class action lawsuit, prompting a summary to help save you time and address common questions. Essentially, this settlement is promising news, especially since your business is likely eligible for a reimbursement if you were accepting payments via these networks during the specified period.
The Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement, or the “Re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation,” compensates a group of merchants accepting Visa or Mastercard-branded cards. The settlement addresses claims that these networks colluded with banks and violated antitrust regulations by imposing excessively high interchange fees from 2004 to 2019.
Eligible entities include a variety of business structures such as partnerships, sole proprietorships, corporations, and some non-profits. In essence, this settlement offers you the chance to recover what you may have overpaid in interchange fees over 15 years.
In 2005, merchants initiated a significant class-action lawsuit against Visa, Mastercard, and various banks. They claimed that these card network companies and the associated banks colluded to artificially maintain high interchange fees, which are set by the card networks themselves.
Visa and MasterCard assert that their business practices are lawful and benefit both merchants and consumers.
The Settlement Class encompasses all individuals, businesses, and other entities in the United States that have accepted any Visa-branded or Mastercard-branded cards during the timeframe specified by the lawsuit. While this is a class-action lawsuit, certain entities, including several universities, chose not to participate. These non-participating entities are referred to as Dismissed Plaintiffs and are not part of the Settlement Class.
Dismissed Plaintiffs are those who previously settled their individual lawsuits against the defendants, Visa and Mastercard, and entities associated with these plaintiffs. If you are unsure whether you qualify as a Dismissed Plaintiff, you can obtain more information by calling 1-800-625-6440.
Eligibility for the Visa/MasterCard Interchange Settlement includes businesses and other entities that accepted Mastercard or Visa-branded credit cards in the US from 1st January 2004 to 25th January 2019. Eligible parties include partnerships, corporations, select non-profits, and sole proprietorships. The following groups are excluded from the settlement:
The settlement offers multiple potential benefits for merchants, such as:
Eligible merchants can file a claim for the Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement online by August 30, 2024, using the following steps:
You will need to provide supporting documents, such as merchant statements displaying your Visa and Mastercard transaction volumes from 2004 to 2019.
Alternatively, filing your claim through Host Merchant Services (HMS) is a simpler and potentially quicker option. HMS has collaborated with Certificate Clearing Corporation (CCC), an organization that has successfully processed millions of claims resulting in multibillion-dollar settlements. Through HMS and CCC, you can expedite your claim for early cash payouts, all you have to do is just SUBMIT A CLAIM here.
The original deadline to file a claim for the Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement was set for May 31, 2024. However, it has been extended to August 30, 2024, to accommodate merchants who were previously unable to file their claims.
Submitting a claim form for the Visa-Mastercard class action settlement is free of charge. Both the Class Counsel and the Class Administrator offer complimentary assistance once the claims process becomes available. However, please be aware that third-party services may charge a contingent fee based on the amount awarded from the claim.
If you did not receive a claim form for the Visa and Mastercard class action settlement, you can initiate the claim filing process by visiting the paymentcardsettlement.com website and clicking the “Submit Claim” button. You’ll need to provide your Taxpayer Identification Number. Additionally, you can request a new claim notice number by filling out a form on the settlement website.
For assistance with the claim form, you can contact the Claims Administrator at no cost by calling 1-800-625-6440, emailing [email protected], or sending mail to Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement, PO Box 2530, Portland.
Alternatively, if you choose to file your claim through HMS and CCC and have not received a notice from the claims administrator, we can assist you in locating your claim information.
The $5.54 billion settlement fund from Visa and Mastercard will be allocated to merchants who accept these credit cards between January 1, 2004, and January 25, 2019, provided they submit a valid claim by August 30, 2024. The distribution amount for each merchant will depend on the interchange fees they paid during this period. This amount will also be adjusted by deducting the total settlement costs and dividing the remainder on a pro-rata basis, which means the final amount each business receives will depend on the volume and value of all processed claims.
Settlement costs include administration and notification expenses, taxes on the settlement fund, compensation for class plaintiffs, and legal fees and expenses.
If you fail to submit a valid claim by the deadline, you will not be eligible to receive any funds from the Visa and Mastercard settlement. This settlement applies to merchants who accepted Visa and/or Mastercard from 2004 and did not opt out of the Settlement Class.
The opportunity to opt out of the Visa and Mastercard settlement expired on July 23, 2019. Merchants who did not opt-out by this date and submit a valid claim can receive a share of the $5.54 billion settlement fund.
