Visa and Mastercard agree $6.2bn settlement over card fees
Visa, Mastercard and a number of banks have agreed to pay $6.2bn (£4.72bn) to settle a long-running legal dispute over the charges retailers are forced to pay for accepting card payments.
The lawsuit, which began in 2005, accused the card companies of breaking US federal antitrust laws by forcing retailers to pay swipe fees.
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An earlier $7.25bn settlement was thrown out by a federal appeals court in 2016 and would have been the largest all-cash US antitrust settlement.
The previous agreement was opposed by retailers including Amazon and Walmart and the appeals court found some merchants would receive little or no benefit.
The card companies have already paid $5.3bn of the settlement and will now pay an extra $900m.
US banks named in the lawsuit includes JP Morgan Chase & Co, Citigroup and Bank of America.
“We are taking a significant step towards closing a chapter in a long-standing case,” Mastercard general counsel Tim Murphy said in a statement.
“We can put this behind us and focus on continuing to innovate with our merchant partners to deliver the experience and convenience that consumers expect.”
Visa's share of the settlement is around $4.1bn, which will be paid with funds previously deposited with the court.
“After years of thoughtful negotiation, we are pleased to be able to reach this agreement and move forward in our partnership with merchants to provide consumers convenient, reliable, secure ways to pay,” said Visa executive vice president Kelly Mahon Tullier.
“This outcome benefits all parties and enables us to focus more of our resources and attention to building the future of digital commerce together.”
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