(The Epoch Times)—Visa and Mastercard have agreed to pay a total of $167.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed in 2011, concluding the 14-year-old case, according to a Dec. 18 court filing.
According to documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the class action plaintiffs alleged that both Visa and Mastercard participated in an “unlawful conspiracy to restrain trade” that involved the setting of surcharges by independently owned, nonbank ATMs, resulting in higher ATM access fees for consumers.
The lawsuit alleged that the actions of both credit card giants represented a violation of the Sherman Act. Dating back to 1890, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act was the first Federal act that made monopolistic business practices illegal. The Act authorized the Federal government to initiate proceedings against trusts to dissolve them.
After the original case was dismissed, the class actions counsel reintroduced the case, providing outside economic consulting and data experts in collecting, inputting, and analyzing the necessary transactional data over the course of several years.
Following a series of rebuttals by the defendants and an ongoing exchange of expert testimonies by both plaintiffs and defendants, the parties agreed to mediate in January 2025. The four-month mediation resulted in the $167.5 million settlement offer.
Once the court has granted final approval to the settlement agreement, both Visa and Mastercard will have 21 business days to wire payments to an escrow account. Visa will pay 53 percent of the settlement, $88.7 million, while Mastercard will pay 47 percent, or $78.7 million.
The settlement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing by any party, according to the court documents. The documents note that “Defendants Visa and Mastercard deny and continue to deny each and all of the claims made by Plaintiffs in the Burke Action and of liability against them arising out of any of the conduct, statements, acts, or omissions alleged, or that could have been alleged, in the Action.”
The Epoch Times has reached out to Visa and Mastercard for comment.
According to the court documents, the settlement will include “all persons in the United States who, between Oct. 24, 2007, and the date of the Preliminary Approval Order, were charged an Access Fee for a domestic cash withdrawal transaction at an Independent ATM and who were not fully reimbursed by their bank.”
Claims against Visa and Mastercard will then be dismissed with prejudice, and members of the settlement class will be required to release the defendants from any and all claims that were alleged in the litigation.
Those involved in the class action lawsuit will be notified via email.
“The notice plan also includes targeted digital banner and newsfeed ads to be placed on websites and applications across multiple devices, including desktop, tablet, and mobile devices,” the court documents indicated.
In addition, the settlement includes a requirement for the dissemination of news of the settlement via a press release on wire services.
“The proposed Settlement will resolve all of the Burke Class’s claims against the Defendants and bring to an end fourteen years of hard-fought litigation (including two trips to the Court of Appeals and one trip to the U.S. Supreme Court) by providing reasonable compensation to claiming Class members,” the documents read.
Both the class notice and case website are set to begin 28 days following the preliminary approval of the settlement. The deadline for filing claims is 180 days after entry of the preliminary approval order.
