Mastercard has settled a class action claim brought by more than 1,900 businesses in the ongoing Mastercard Fee Group Litigation over allegations it imposed excessively high credit card fees on merchants, a person familiar with the case has confirmed.
The settlement involves a group of claimants represented by Stephenson Harwood LLP. First reported by the Global Legal Post, the resolution does not affect the merchants’ parallel proceedings against Visa or other retailers suing Mastercard in the “umbrella litigation,” according to the source.
Mastercard Fee Group Litigation : Impact on Parallel Proceedings
Counsel for the Stephenson Harwood businesses did not return requests for comment before publication.
Thousands of retailers are suing Mastercard and Visa for reimbursement of “unlawful” multilateral interchange fees, which businesses pay to their acquiring banks to accept debit or credit card payments. These fees are estimated to constitute up to 90% of a typical business’s monthly bank charge.
