Are You Owed a Piece of a $5.5 Billion Settlement?

If you or your business accepted Visa or Mastercard credit cards as payment between January 1, 2004 and January 25, 2019, you may be entitled to a share of a $5.5 billion settlement.

Brief Overview of the Class Action

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and the defendants in the case include both the Visa and Mastercard networks along with certain member banks that issued cards tied to those networks. The proceedings were ultimately granted class action status. 

According to the notice posted https://paymentcardsettlement.com/en, the class action lawsuit is centered on the interchange fees attributable to merchants that accepted Visa or Mastercard credit or debit cards within the specified time frame and Visa’s and Mastercard’s rules for merchants that accepted those cards.

The Plaintiffs in the case claim that Visa, Mastercard, and their respective member banks violated the law because they set interchange fees—and merchants ultimately paid excessive fees or should not have been assessed any fees at all in certain circumstances. According to the Plaintiffs, the excessive fees paid are a violation of antitrust laws.

The Defendants admit no wrongdoing and claim their business practices are—according to the FAQ page, “legal, justified, the result of independent competition and have benefitted merchants and consumers.”

Claim Deadline Extended

On May 14, 2024, the Court granted an extension of the claims filing deadline, which is now set for August 30, 2024.

Next Steps

• Visit https://paymentcardsettlement.com/en and find out if you qualify for a settlement.
• If you have already received a claim form in the mail, you can file using that documentation or you can start your claim online.
• If you did NOT receive a claim form, you can start the claim process online.

If you are not sure whether you are a part of the settlement, you can contact the Class Administrator at:

• Call: 1-800-625-6440
• Write: Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement, P.O. Box 2530, Portland, OR 97208-2530
• Email: info@PaymentCardSettlement.com