How much of the $6 billion class action lawsuit against Visa/MasterCard are you entitled to? This suit has been approved but it will likely be a lengthy process before payments are actually made, if ever. As a merchant that accepts credit/debit cards for payment of your goods and services, you’ve likely thought that you were paying too much for this privilege. Well, obviously, you’re not alone and, in fact, you may be owed a refund. On December 13, 2013, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York approved a Class Settlement among merchants, Visa, MasterCard and other Defendants in a class-action lawsuit. The lawsuit claims that merchants paid excessive fees for accepting Visa and MasterCard because of an alleged conspiracy among the Defendants.
Here’s some of the basics but I wouldn’t start getting too excited just yet imagining what you’ll spend your windfall on. Settlement with merchants is currently being appealed. Claim forms are not available at this time and will not be available until after all appeals are resolved. And you know how long those processes could take so you’ll just need to stay in the loop. You’ll find information on how to do that further into this article.
The total amount of the first cash fund is in the amount of $6.05 billion. The suit states that any person, business or other entity that accepted Visa or MasterCard credit or debit card in the U.S. at any time between the dates of January 1, 2004 and November 28, 2012, may be eligible to receive a payment from this large fund. There is a second fund of $1.2 billion that only addresses certain merchant types and for only an eight month period beginning July 29,2013. So, obviously, this pertains to a much smaller merchant group.
Additionally, the Settlement requires Visa and MasterCard to modify some of their rules for merchants that accept their cards. For example, you may now charge a surcharge to customers that want to use plastic to help you offset some of your costs. But honestly, how many of you will really be willing to possibly lose business by doing so?
Now here’s a heads up for you. Your current provider or even some independent outside third-party may make contact with you stating that they will offer you a “Settlement Recovery Service”. YOU DO NOT NEED THIS SERVICE!!! Now, if you’re feeling burdened already with your current workload, then maybe it could be of benefit for you. Typically there is no up-front fees and they operate on a contingency basis. However members can get NO-COST help from The Class Administrator and Class Counsel during the claims-filing period.
So, if you want to stay on top of this suit and how you may benefit, do a search for Payment Card Settlement and you’ll be taken to the Court-approved website. And, of course, as always, if you have any specific questions for me, you know how to make contact. Thanks for reading.