Following this announcement, both financial institutions agreed to pay the USD 197 million fees in order to resolve a class action lawsuit made by millions of customers. The individuals accused the financial payment companies of keeping cash access fees artificially high.
The other related class actions were made by users who leveraged non-bank ATMs and businesses that own their independent ATMs. They are currently pending in D.C. federal court. In addition, the proposed deal is currently subject to court approval, as the defendants of the companies have denied all the accusations.
Following this initiative, Visa is expected to pay USD 104.6 million in the account, while Mastercard will pay USD 92.8 million. The ban defendants settle claims for USD 66 million as well. According to Reuters, Visa and Mastercard did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Visa and Mastercard’s ATM network also caused customers to pay artificially higher amounts for access fees, as the collective sum of damages is more than USD 9 billion. The resolution also comes after the US Supreme Court turned down an appeal from Visa and Mastercard in April, which challenged a lower court judge’s ruling that allowed the groups of plaintiffs to bank together and to sue as class actions.
At the moment, both businesses argued that the judge failed to conduct an analysis before certifying the class actions, as the proposed settlement was estimated to have over 175 million members. Customers will have the possibility to object to the terms of the settlements, such as the amount of the fund and any legal fees that are set to be awarded. At the same time, Visa and Mastercard are defendants in a long-running legal proceeding in Brooklyn federal court, over multiple claims that they overcharged merchants, businesses, and other transactions involving debit and credit cards.
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