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US: Amex boosts Visa, MC interchange offer

By  |  February 9, 2014

A federal judge Friday has accepted Amex’s offer to allow merchants to impose surcharges on credit cards and encourage customers to use debit cards to avoid higher swipe-fees. Amex made the offer to settle a proposed class action case brought by retailers.

Visa and MasterCard had agreed to a similar concession to retailers as part of their $5.7 billion interchange fee settlement with merchants. But merchants weren’t allowed to surcharge Visa and MasterCard unless they surcharged Amex too under the terms of the settlement. With the Amex settlement retailers will be able to surcharge all card brands.

Some reports say the move will encourage consumers to use debit cards instead, which charge retailers lower fees.

The court scheduled a September 17 hearing for final settlement approval.

Full Content: Businessweek

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