Information & FAQs
1. The companies that the plaintiffs have been suing are the “Defendants.” Defendants are:
Network Defendants:“Visa”: Visa U.S.A. Inc., Visa International Service Association, and Visa Inc.; and“Mastercard”: Mastercard International Incorporated and Mastercard Incorporated;
Bank Defendants: Bank of America, N.A.; BA Merchant Services LLC (formerly known as National Processing, Inc.); Bank of America Corporation; Barclays Bank plc; Barclays Delaware Holdings, LLC (formerly known as Juniper Financial Corporation); Barclays Bank Delaware (formerly known as Juniper Bank); Barclays Financial Corp.; Capital One Bank (USA), N.A.; Capital One F.S.B.; Capital One Financial Corporation; Chase Bank USA, N.A. (and as successor to Chase Manhattan Bank USA, N.A. and Bank One, Delaware, N.A.); Paymentech, LLC (and as successor to Chase Paymentech Solutions, LLC); JPMorgan Chase & Co. (and as successor to Bank One Corporation); JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (and as successor to Washington Mutual Bank); Citibank, N.A.; Citigroup Inc.; Citicorp; Fifth Third Bancorp; First National Bank of Omaha; HSBC Finance Corporation; HSBC Bank USA, N.A.; HSBC North America Holdings Inc.; HSBC Holdings plc; HSBC Bank plc; The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (and as acquirer of National City Corporation); National City Corporation; National City Bank of Kentucky; SunTrust Banks, Inc.; SunTrust Bank; Texas Independent Bancshares, Inc.; and Wells Fargo & Company (and as successor to Wachovia Corporation).
3. What is an interchange fee?
When a cardholder makes a purchase with a credit or debit card, there is an interchange fee attributable to those transactions, which is usually around 1% to 2% of the purchase price. Interchange fees typically account for the greatest part of the fees paid by merchants for accepting Visa and Mastercard cards.
Visa and Mastercard set interchange fee rates for different kinds of transactions and publish them on their websites, usually twice a year.
4. Why is this an Antitrust class settlement?
In a class action, people or businesses sue not only for themselves, but also on behalf of other people or businesses with similar legal claims and interests. Together all of these people or businesses with similar claims and interests form a class, and are class members.
When a court decides a case or approves a settlement, it is applicable to all members of the class (except class members who exclude themselves). In this case, the Court has granted Final Approval to the settlement and the class defined below in Question 6.
An appeal to the final-approval order was filed on Friday, January 3, 2020. The Settlement received final approval by the district court. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments and affirmed all aspects of the District Court’s final approval order save one. The time for all appeals has passed.
5. Why is there a settlement?
The Court has not decided which side was right or wrong or if any laws were violated. Instead, both sides agreed to settle the case and avoid the cost and risk of trial and appeals that would follow a trial.
In this case, the settlement is the product of extensive negotiations, including mediation before two experienced mediators, chosen by the parties. Settling this case allows class members to receive payments. The Rule 23(b)(3) Class Plaintiffs and their lawyers believe the settlement is best for all class members.
The parties agreed to settle this case only after thirteen years of extensive litigation. During discovery, Rule 23(b)(3) Class Plaintiffs reviewed and analyzed more than 60 million pages of documents and participated in more than 550 depositions, including fact and expert depositions. Also, earlier in this litigation, motions to dismiss, motions for summary judgment, motions to exclude expert testimony, and the motion for class certification had been fully briefed and argued, but not decided by the Court.
6. Am I part of this settlement?
If you received a Notice in the mail, the Defendants’ records show that you are probably in the Rule 23(b)(3) Settlement Class, consisting of:
All persons, businesses, and other entities that have accepted any Visa-Branded Cards and/or Mastercard-Branded Cards in the United States at any time from January 1, 2004 to January 25, 2019, except that the Rule 23(b)(3) Settlement Class shall not include (a) the Dismissed Plaintiffs, (b) the United States government, (c) the named Defendants in this Action or their directors, officers, or members of their families, or (d) financial institutions that have issued Visa-Branded Cards or Mastercard-Branded Cards or acquired Visa-Branded Card transactions or Mastercard-Branded Card transactions at any time from January 1, 2004 to January 25, 2019.
7. How much money will be provided in this settlement?
Under the settlement, Visa, Mastercard and the Bank Defendants have agreed to provide $5.54 billion to merchants that did not exclude themselves from the Settlement Class.
- Every merchant in the Rule 23(b)(3) Settlement Class that did not exclude itself from the class by the deadline, and filed a valid claim (“Authorized Claimant”) will be paid from the settlement fund. The money in this settlement fund will also be used to pay:
- The cost of Settlement administration and notice, and applicable taxes on the settlement fund and any other related tax expenses, as approved by the Court;Money awards for Rule 23(b)(3) Class Plaintiffs for their service on behalf of the class, as approved by the Court; and
-Attorneys’ fees and expenses, as approved by the Court.
8. How do I ask for money from this settlement?
You must file a valid claim to get money from this Settlement. The Court granted Final Approval to the settlement on December 13, 2019. If you did not exclude yourself from the Rule 23(b)(3) Settlement Class, you will receive a claim form in the mail, email or via a third-party.
A. How much money will I get?
The amount paid from the settlement fund will be based on your actual or estimated interchange fees attributable to Visa and Mastercard card transactions (between you and your customers) from January 1, 2004, through January 25, 2019.The amount of money each Authorized Claimant will receive from the settlement fund depends on the money available to pay all claims, the total dollar value of all valid claims filed, the cost of class administration and notice, applicable taxes on the settlement fund and any other related tax expenses, attorneys’ fees and expenses, and money awards to the Rule 23(b)(3) Class Plaintiffs for their representation of merchants in MDL 1720, which culminated in the Class Settlement Agreement, all as approved by the Court.
B. When will I get paid?
No payments are expected to be made until after the end of the Claims Period on August 30, 2024. Because the pro rata cannot be determined until all Claims are filed and reviewed and until the Court approves the final amounts, we do not yet know when payments will be made. Please be patient.
If you file your claim online, it must be submitted by 11:59 pm PST on August 30, 2024.
Claim forms can also be mailed to: Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement
a. Who decides the value of my claim?
The Class Administrator has data from Defendants and others which permits it to estimate the total value of interchange fees attributable to each Authorized Claimant on its Visa and Mastercard card transactions during the period from January 1, 2004, to January 25, 2019, (“Interchange Fees Paid”). It is the current intention to utilize this data to the extent possible, to estimate the interchange fees attributable to members of the Rule 23(b)(3) Settlement Class.
Where the necessary data is not reasonably available to estimate a class member’s Interchange Fees Paid or if the Interchange Fees Paid claim value established by the Class Administrator is disputed by the class member, the class member is required to submit information in support of its claim. This information will include, to the extent known, Interchange Fees Paid attributable to the class member, merchant discount fees paid, the class member’s merchant category code and/or a description of the class member’s business, and total Visa and Mastercard transaction volume and/or total sales volume. Based on these data, the Interchange Fees Paid attributable to the class member will be estimated for each known member of the Rule 23(b)(3) Settlement Class.
The Class Administrator has provided class members the ability to access the claims website with a unique code to permit it to view the manner in which its claim value was calculated and may also provide this information on a pre-populated Claim Form. Class members may accept or disagree with data on the Claim Form or this website. The Claim Form and online claim filing portal explain how to challenge the data. More details about how all claims are calculated is available in the
be required to submit documents to support your claim. If you do not know your Interchange Fees Paid you can leave that field blank (or the tick the box on the paper claim form that says “I don’t know”) and the Class Administrator will contact you about next steps.
c. What do the terms (Transaction, Volume, Interchange Fees) on my Claim Form/Merchant Portal Summary mean?
Transactions:The transaction count refers to the number of Mastercard and/or Visa-Branded Card payments or transactions associated to the Merchant, as available in the Class Administrator’s data, during the Class Period.Volume:The dollar amount refers to the total estimated sales volume associated with Mastercard and/or Visa-Branded Card activity (or transactions) for the Merchant during the Class Period, as available in the Class Administrator’s data. Cash, check, money order, or payments/transactions from other Branded Card providers are not included in this total.Interchange Fee:The “interchange fee” is the largest portion of the fee that Merchants pay to accept Mastercard and Visa-Branded Cards. In the Merchant Portal, Interchange Fees refer to the interchange fees paid by the Merchant on the Mastercard and/or Visa-Branded Card transactions/sales volume, as available in the Class Administrator’s data, during the Class Period.
d. Can anyone else file a claim for me? Some companies may offer to help you file your Claim Form in exchange for a portion of your recovery from the settlement.
While you may choose to use such companies, you should know that you can file with the Class Administrator on your own, free of charge. Additionally, you are entitled to contact the Class Administrator or Rule 23(b)(3) Class Counsel for assistance with understanding and filing your Claim Form — again, at no cost to you. Prior orders of the Court regarding third-party claims filing companies are available for review.
e. What happens if someone else files a claim for my business before I can do so?
Don’t worry, just because someone else filed a claim for your business before you had a chance to do so does not mean that you can’t file your own claim. Claim conflicts will be reviewed and resolved as they arise, and filers may be asked to provide additional documentation to show they had the right to file that claim. Once a conflict is resolved the filers will be notified about the decisions that were made.
f. Once I have filed what happens next?
Once your Claim is submitted, it will be reviewed by the Class Administrator. You will be contacted if additional information is needed from you. Accurate processing of claims may take significant time.
Thank you for your patience.
Please note: It is your responsibility to update the Class Administrator / Agent Representative if you move or your contact information changes. You may provide your updated contact details to the Class Administrator and / or Agent-Representative.
Who is SunWest Capital Group and what is your role?
SunWest Capital Group is a consulting firm who specialized in client business solutions. We are a third-party agent affiliate of DCAP Claims and a business partner of Summit National Advisors.
What does DCAP do?
DCAP is a 3rd party filer of Antitrust settlement claims. We usually work on settlement funds that are in excess of $100 million.
Are you Attorneys?
No.
Why should a company use us instead of filing themselves?
Companies can always file claims themselves. However, many companies prefer to limit the time and resources that would be necessary to collect data and properly file and defend their claim. We ensure that the dollars claimed are maximized and DCAP defends the claim through any appeal, audit or deficiency process until payment is made.
Could this impact my relationship with Visa/Mastercard?
The short answer to the question is no: filing a claim will not in any way affect a claimant's relationship with Visa or MasterCard. Longer answer is that they have already settled with the courts and they have no influence over who chooses to file a claim, nor are they allowed to interfere. They will have to provide data for the claim forms based on registered EINs and identified by randomly generated codes when a claimant pre‐registers with the claims administrator. Any contact with the claimant in regards to their claim will come through the claims admin via our team, and they will have no contact from Visa or MasterCard.
Am I eligible to file a claim if I owned my business only a portion of the 15 years between 2004 and 2019?
Yes. Whether you currently own the business or used to own the business, as long as you earned the revenue from Visa/Mastercard transactions, you are eligible to file a claim.
How much does it cost?
DCAP and SunWest Capital work on a contingency model. Our fee is based on the recovery amount and is not paid until after payment is received. If there is no payment, then we do not collect our fee. DCAP and SunWest Capital also never charge any expenses or other hidden fees.