More than 50 lawsuits filed by merchants against credit card issuers and networks over the past several years may soon reach settlement, the Wall Street Journal says.
For years, merchants have been going to court over a ban on credit card surcharges as required by Visa and MasterCard. Now, the Wall Street Journal’s Andrew Johnson says those cases may be settled as soon as this week.
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Based on conversations with legal analysts, the Journal says a settlement may include a cash payment to merchants, a reduction in current swipe fees charged to those merchants, and — most notably — a lift on the ban of credit card surcharges currently imposed on merchants.
Decisions against MasterCard or Visa would also impact Discover and American Express customers, as those companies only require that card surcharges be the same for every network. But a civil settlement would likely not impact states where surcharges are illegal by law, of which there are ten, including New York and California, The Consumerist notes.
One of the first lawsuits filed by merchants against Visa and MasterCard originated almost exactly seven years ago. On July 15, 2005, several large retailers including grocery chain operator Kroger charged Visa with price-fixing, and restricting competition in credit-card transactions. That suit sought an injunction, plus triple damages, for the time period between Jan. 1, 2004, and the time of the filing.
Since then, the Kroger lawsuit has been combined with others and scheduled for a hearing before Judge John Gleeson in September — the same Judge Gleeson that approved a settlement in favor of Wal-Mart against Visa and MasterCard in 1996.
In anticipation of potential costs, Visa deposited $1.57 billion into its litigation escrow account at the end of last year.
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