BROOKLYN, N.Y.—Visa and Mastercard are going to have to open their wallets and pay a lot of merchants, following a new court ruling.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York stated that an agreement has been reached to settle a class action lawsuit brought by merchants who claimed the card processors had charged them excessive fees on debit and credit transactions, Barron's reported.
Visa and Mastercard, and certain banks, will pay between $5.54 billion and $6.42 billion on claims from merchants who accepted customer payments via Visa or Mastercard anytime between 2004 and Jan. 25, 2019.
The card processors maintain they did nothing wrong and the Eastern District hasn't determined if they or the plaintiffs are right, Barron's said.