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Federal judge approves revised Visa and Mastercard merchant settlement over card-swipe fees
The Apex Times

THE APEX TIMES

Business/The Apex Times/Jun 9, 5:07 PM EDT

Federal judge approves revised Visa and Mastercard merchant settlement over card-swipe fees

U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan said the pact offers “more extensive relief” than an earlier deal the court rejected, clearing a major step in a long-running class action involving roughly 12 million merchants.

By The Apex Times Newsroom2 min readAI-assisted Apex article

A federal judge on Tuesday approved a revised settlement between Visa and Mastercard and about 12 million U.S. merchants that sued the card networks over card-swipe fees, concluding the agreement is fair, reasonable and adequate for the class.

U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan of the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn said the settlement provides “more extensive relief” than a prior version that the court rejected in June 2024. He also emphasized that the court’s job is not to decide whether the settlement is ideal for each merchant’s individual preferences, but whether it meets the legal standard for class-action approval.

The judge said the settlement is intended to end 21 years of litigation dating back to the mid-2000s. The arrangement had support from both the card networks and attorneys representing the merchant class.

At an April 27 hearing, Cogan considered objections from some large merchants who opposed the deal, including an attorney for Walmart. The judge nonetheless found the revised terms satisfied the threshold for approval under federal class-action rules.

For Visa and Mastercard, the case goes to the heart of how card payments are priced at the merchant level. Swipe fees, often discussed in the context of interchange, are fees paid by merchants’ banks and passed through the card payment ecosystem, affecting the effective cost of accepting card payments.

Card networks typically argue that interchange and related fees reflect the broader economics of running card systems, including risk, fraud prevention and network services. Merchants and their attorneys have contended for years that those fees were set in an anticompetitive way that overcharged retailers for accepting credit cards.

The judge’s approval is a key procedural milestone, but it does not necessarily resolve every dispute. The settlement still depends on the next steps in the case process, including how claims are handled and any further proceedings after approval.

What remains unclear from the court discussion reported in the news coverage is the final dollar scope of the relief, the precise breakdown of how merchants will receive payments or other benefits, and how objections could play out later in the litigation.

Why It Matters

  • The approval reduces legal uncertainty for Visa and Mastercard in a dispute that has spanned two decades and has periodically resurfaced in regulatory and antitrust discussions.
  • Merchants are likely to focus on how much and how quickly they can claim relief, because the practical impact depends on settlement administration, not just court approval.
  • Card networks and large retailers may use the outcome as leverage in future negotiations over acceptance costs and payment processing terms.
  • For the broader payments sector, the ruling highlights how courts can scrutinize class-action settlements even when both sides argue they are workable.

Sources

Key Facts

  • A federal judge approved a revised Visa and Mastercard settlement with roughly 12 million merchants over card-swipe fees.
  • U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan said the agreement provides “more extensive relief” than an earlier settlement rejected in June 2024.
  • Cogan found the deal is fair, reasonable and adequate under class-action standards.
  • The settlement is intended to end 21 years of litigation dating to the mid-2000s.
  • Objections were raised at an April 27 hearing by some large merchants, including an attorney for Walmart.
  • The judge’s ruling followed support for the settlement from both the card networks and attorneys for the merchant class.

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Federal judge approves revised Visa and Mastercard merchant settlement over card-swipe fees | The Apex Times