Consumers, represented by solicitor Walter Merricks, allege that they paid higher prices in shops between 1992 and 2008 due to excessively high swipe fees charged by Mastercard. Retailers are separately seeking reimbursement for “unlawful” interchange fees charged by the card companies for accepting payments throughout the European Economic Area since 2016.
Previous Findings
The consumer class action, brought under the U.K.’s collective proceedings order regime, arises from a European Commission finding in 2007 that Mastercard had infringed the bloc’s competition law by imposing the fees on retailers. The commission also found in 2002 that Visa’s fees in the European Economic Area restricted competition.
The tribunal noted that the Merricks proceedings cover a period partly predating the period covered by the retailers’ claim. It added that “there is obviously considerable similarity in the pass-on issues arising in both sets of proceedings, such that a question of ensuring consistency arises.”
