It may have only taken 14 short years to get your money back for all those ridiculous Visa and Mastercard swipe fees but there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel. On Nov. 7, a court may grant final approval to a class action antitrust lawsuit against Visa and Mastercard. Why should you care? Because if your agency accepted payments via Visa and Mastercard between Jan. 1, 2004 and Jan. 1, 2019 you could be a member of the class.
A settlement of $5.54 billion and $6.24 billion was tentatively approved Jan. 24, 2019. Since that time there has been squabbling regarding notices and a fight over attorney fees. Fear not if you think Mastercard, who went public in 2006 and Visa, who went public in 2008, don’t have the money. Both stocks are trading at all-time highs and both have been putting money aside for this settlement for more than a decade.
There is really nothing you have to do at this point since the settlement is not final. Another potential roadblock is the potential for another appeal, similar to the one that was filed back in 2013 when a settlement was first reached. If you want to try and get any money back, you should pre-register to receive a claim form at https://www.paymentcardsettlement.com/en-US/Request
