Visa and MasterCard announced, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, a settlement with U.S. merchants related to swipe fees, a development that could potentially save consumers tens of billions of dollars. Visa and Mastercard agreed to cap credit-card swipe fees — a deal that US merchants say will save them at least $30 billion over five years — in one of the most significant antitrust settlements ever, following a legal fight that spanned almost two decades.
The legal fight over credit card swipe fees dates back to at least 2005 — before both Visa and Mastercard were spun off from the banks that owned them to become publicly traded companies. The fees, also known as interchange, are a key driver of profit for card-issuing banks and they are the primary mechanism used to fund popular rewards programs.
Shares of JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, Visa and Mastercard were all up slightly at 12:22 p.m. in New York. “The fact remains that these fees are an unfair business practice that harms merchants and consumers and benefits banks,” she said in a statement.As part of the settlement, Visa and Mastercard agreed to reduce the swipe fees they charge each merchant by at least 4 basis points for at least three years, lawyers for the retailers said.
“This agreement brings closure to a long-standing dispute by delivering substantial certainty and value to business owners, including flexibility in how they manage acceptance of card programs,” Rob Beard, general counsel and head of global policy at Mastercard, said in a statement.The latest agreement comes about five years after Visa and Mastercard agreed to pay around $6 billion to millions of merchants, in what was then the largest-ever class-action settlement of a US antitrust case.
Loans Loans Latest News, Loans Loans Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: dallasnews - 🏆 18. / 71 Read more »
Source: dcexaminer - 🏆 6. / 94 Read more »