TL;DR
Get smart everyday buys delivered free — and shop member deals
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Access to Prime Big Deal Days deals on October 6–7
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
A San Diego pizzeria has filed a proposed class action accusing Visa, Mastercard and five major banks of maintaining rules that keep merchant credit-card fees high. The allegations are unproven, and the suit seeks to cover merchants that accepted the networks’ cards from January 25, 2019, onward.
A San Diego pizzeria has filed a proposed class action against Visa, Mastercard and five major banks, alleging they coordinated rules that suppressed competition and kept the fees merchants pay on card transactions high. The 134-page complaint seeks to represent U.S. merchants that accepted Visa- or Mastercard-branded credit cards beginning January 25, 2019; its accusations have not been proven in court.
The complaint names Bank of America, Capital One, Chase Bank, Citibank and Wells Fargo alongside the two payment networks. It alleges the companies maintained uniform schedules of interchange fees—charges merchants pay to card-issuing banks for transactions—and imposed rules that made those fees difficult to avoid or negotiate. The filing describes the fees as effectively non-negotiable, but that characterization is the plaintiff’s claim.
Among the alleged restraints, the suit says merchants that accept one Visa or Mastercard credit card must accept all cards on that network, even when their costs differ. It also alleges merchants have been limited in steering customers toward less costly payment methods, including through surcharges tied to a particular card. The plaintiff argues these rules weaken incentives for banks and networks to compete on price.
The complaint also challenges fees charged by Visa and Mastercard for operating their networks, describing them as an added cost on each transaction. It alleges merchants now pay more than $100 billion annually to accept the two networks’ credit cards. That figure is presented in the lawsuit; the report does not provide an independent calculation or specify a comparison baseline.
Why Merchants Seek Post-2019 Relief
The proposed case focuses on fees incurred after the cutoff for an earlier settlement, making its requested relief relevant to businesses that say they continued paying high card costs after January 2019. For merchants with substantial card sales, transaction fees can be a recurring expense. The case could affect whether those businesses can pursue compensation for the later period, although no class has been certified and no liability has been established.
The allegations also concern how much choice merchants have when deciding which payment methods to accept and how to communicate lower-cost options to customers. If the court accepts the plaintiff’s arguments, the dispute could put the networks’ acceptance rules and fee schedules under further scrutiny. At this stage, those are potential implications, not findings about the companies’ conduct.
merchant credit card fee calculator
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Earlier Settlement Left a Later Period
The complaint points to multidistrict litigation over similar alleged market restraints. According to the report, a court approved a monetary class action settlement in December 2019 that provided more than $5 billion in relief to merchants for a class period ending January 24, 2019. The new suit says that settlement did not compensate merchants for fees paid from January 25, 2019 onward.
A separate settlement seeking changes to rules, rather than past monetary compensation, had been preliminarily approved, the report says. The complaint argues that any benefits from such prospective changes would not repay merchants for fees already paid after the earlier class period. The new filing seeks to address that alleged gap; its proposed class would run until the alleged anticompetitive effects cease.
“A “deadweight toll on virtually every credit card purchase in America.””
— The complaint
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Claims Await Court Review
The allegations have not been tested or resolved in court. The available report does not provide responses from Visa, Mastercard or the named banks, and it does not specify the court, filing date, judge, or any response deadlines. It is also unclear whether the court will certify the proposed class, what damages or other remedies the plaintiff is seeking in detail, or how the new action may relate procedurally to the earlier litigation and settlement.
The reported $100 billion annual fee figure and the complaint’s descriptions of market effects are claims in the filing, not independently established facts. The outcome could depend on the evidence, legal arguments and any defenses the companies present.
point of sale payment processing device
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Court Decisions Will Set the Course
The next steps are not specified in the source report. The case would need to proceed through court review, including any motions challenging the complaint and, if it advances, questions about whether the proposed merchant class can be certified. The defendants may respond to the allegations, but no responses are included in the supplied material.
Readers should watch for court filings that clarify the requested relief, the case schedule and any relationship to the prior settlements. Until a court rules, the claims remain allegations, and the proposed class has not been approved.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Key Questions
Who is being sued?
The proposed suit names Visa, Mastercard and Bank of America, Capital One, Chase Bank, Citibank and Wells Fargo.
What does the lawsuit allege?
It alleges the companies used fee schedules and network rules that limited merchants’ ability to avoid costs or steer customers toward lower-cost payment options. The allegations have not been proven.
Which merchants could be covered?
The proposed class includes individuals, businesses and other entities in the United States that accepted Visa- or Mastercard-branded credit cards from January 25, 2019 until the alleged anticompetitive effects end. A court has not certified the class.
How does this relate to the earlier settlement?
The report says an earlier monetary settlement covered transactions through January 24, 2019. This new complaint seeks relief for merchants’ alleged injuries in the period beginning the following day.
Have the companies been found liable?
No. The case is a proposed class action, and the accusations are allegations. The supplied report does not include responses from the defendants or a court ruling on the claims.
Source: hn
Halloween Picks
halloween
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
