Objecting to the Visa, MasterCard $7.25 Billion Settlement

    LITTLE ROCK, AR, December 02, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- On November 9, a Federal judge gave preliminary approval to a credit card class-action settlement agreement between several million merchants, and credit card giants Visa and MasterCard. The lawsuit alleged the credit card companies and certain banks were fixing the rates of swipe fees - the fee a credit card company charges a merchant when a customer uses a card.

The settlement received preliminary approval from US District Judge John Gleeson earlier this month in Brooklyn, NY. This approval allows the plaintiffs in the lawsuit to begin registering the merchants who may be eligible for some of the $7.25 billion in compensation. The settlement may still require a final approval later on.

The settlement is composed of about $6 billion in damages, and another $1.25 billion in reduced swipe fees extending over several months.

Some merchants and critics are objecting to the settlement for the following reasons:

- It bars merchants from future swipe-fee-related lawsuits against Visa and MasterCard.
- The $1.2 billion in swipe fee discounts lasts for only eight months, after which time the fees may return to their former sum or may even increase.
- Customers can now be charged for using their credit card, a surcharge to offset the fees the merchant pays.
- Once the settlement is divided up, it amounts to only a couple months' worth of the swipe fees collected by Visa and MasterCard.

Some merchants are attempting to block the settlement. There may be an appeal if the settlement receives final approval. Attorneys across the nation are working to represent the merchants who are not satisfied with the settlement agreement.

Some merchants are particularly dissatisfied with the part of the settlement preventing certain lawsuits against Visa and MasterCard in the future.

"This settlement will affect an entire generation of merchants, whether they participate in a class-action suit or not," said attorney Phillip J. Duncan of the Duncan Firm. Decades down the road, new business owners may find themselves unable to sue these credit card giants over certain issues, including swipe fees.

Merchants who wish to join the effort to block the settlement agreement can join class-action lawsuits currently being organized.

"It is important for as many business owners and retailers as possible to join us in objecting to this unfair settlement that favors Visa and MasterCard above businesses," said Duncan.

To learn more about actions to block the Visa and MasterCard settlement, please contact the Duncan Firm, the law firm of Parker Waichman LLP, or Neblett, Beard & Arsenault, Attorneys at Law at http://duncanfirm.com.

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