Court Rejects Visa, MasterCard Settlement With Retailers

A U.S. Court of Appeals rejected the 2012 swipe-fee settlement, originally valued at $7.25 billion, between the retail industry and payments companies Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc., calling the agreement “unreasonable and inadequate.” The court ruled that the settlement violated the rule that requires the representative parties to “fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class” and uncover any conflicts of interest. The 2012 settlement broke the class of plaintiffs into two groups: one which accepted Visa or MasterCard from 2004 through 2012 and another which would accept the cards from 2012 onward. In its ruling, the appeals court noted the conflict between the merchants in the first class, which were pursuing solely monetary relief, and the merchants in the second class, which were seeking only injunctive relief. Read more at Market Watch.