Getting Your Share of the Credit Card Class Action Settlement

Visa and MasterCard have recently reached a proposed settlement agreement that  allows  merchants to receive a portion of the $7.25 billion total proposed settlement amount. The settlement is the result of a class action lawsuit brought against Visa and Mastercard by hundreds of businesses across the country. The lawsuit claims that merchants paid excessive credit card fees for accepting Visa and Mastercard due to an alleged conspiracy by the card companies.

Any merchants who accepted Visa or MasterCard between January 1, 2004 and November 28, 2012 are eligible to receive a portion of the Cash Fund based on the volume that was processed in this time frame. Merchants who are eligible to receive money from this fund will be able to collect it once the settlement is approved during the Fairness Hearing, scheduled for  September 12, 2013, in New York. 

There are two settlement classes. The first is a more than  six billion dollar fund set aside for anyone that accepted cards during the above time frame. An individual merchant's settlement amount will be 10 basis points, or ten one hundredths of one percent (.0010 percent) of the volume the merchant processed during the time frame.

So if Bob's Diner processed $10,000 a month between January '04 and the end of November 2012, Bob would take $10,000 X 107 months, for a processed amount of $1,070,000. Ten one hundredths of a percent of that figure is $1070- Bob's settlement payout. 

The second fund is open to certain merchants that accepted Visa and Mastercard and who  paid interchange fees during an eight month period that starts on July 29, 2013. This fund is estimated to be $1.2 billion.

A website has been set up at paymentcardsettlement.com for merchant informationand to file claims. 

Two very important points about the settlement- the first is its scope. This is FREE MONEY for anyone anywhere in the country that accepted Visa or Mastercard. All that is required is completing some paperwork and following the guidelines established on the settlement website. Nonetheless, fund administrators expect fewer than thirty percent of eligible merchants will claim their settlement share.

Secondly, dishonest processing companies are already trying to mislead merchants in regards to the settlements.Using phone calls, emails and faxes they promise they can help you get a huge settlement if only you let them take over your processing.

Each merchant's settlement amount is what it is. You plug your numbers into the formula and viola; the amount that results is your payout, and no one can change that.

So check out the settlement website, spend an afternoon totalling up the amount you processed over the settlement period, and start the paperwork to receive your funds. And pay no attention to the dishonest processing companies that give this industry such a bad name.

Feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns or problems you have concerning the settlement, or anything else concerning your businesses electronic payments.