Visa and Mastercard settle long-running antitrust lawsuit over swipe fees with merchants

Visa and Mastercard announce settlements with U.S. merchants over swipe fees that could save consumers tens of billions of dollars.

Swipe fees are paid to Visa, Mastercard, and other credit card companies in exchange for enabling transactions. Merchants ultimately pass these fees on to consumers who use credit or debit cards.

Under the settlement announced Tuesday, Visa and Mastercard will cap credit interchange fees through 2030 and require the companies to negotiate fees with merchant purchasing organizations.

The settlement stems from a 2005 lawsuit alleging that Visa and Mastercard and their member banks violated antitrust laws when merchants paid excessive fees to accept Visa and Mastercard credit cards. There is.

2018Visa and Mastercard agree to pay $6.2 billionas part of a long-running lawsuit brought by a group of 19 distributors. But there were two parts to this case that needed to be resolved. It’s a dispute over the rules Visa and Mastercard impose on accepting cards, and merchants who have chosen not to participate in the settlement.

Visa announced Tuesday that more than 90% of the merchants in Tuesday’s settlement are small and medium-sized businesses.

Mastercard has not admitted any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, and the changes are expected to take effect after the settlement is approved, likely in late 2024 or early 2025.

The settlement is subject to final approval by the Eastern District of New York.

Associated Press

Associated Press