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May 27, 2024 • Issue 24:05:02

Merchant settlement not a done deal

By Patti Murphy A preliminary hearing on the proposed settlement is sched-
uled for June.
o hear some merchants talk, the proposed settle-
ment in an antitrust lawsuit filed against Visa Visa and Mastercard said the proposed settlement contains
and Mastercard regarding interchange is on the real concessions. "By negotiating directly with merchants,
T skids. Leading merchant group the National we have reached a settlement with meaningful concessions
Retail Federation, and several large merchants, have asked that address true pain points small businesses have identi-
the U.S. District Court judge overseeing the case to reject fied," said Kim Lawrence, Visa president for North America.
the settlement, which came on the heels of the judge's deci-
sion not to reject the case out of hand, as requested by Visa Merchants complain it's not just about savings
and Mastercard. Lawyers who negotiated the deal on behalf of merchants
said in a press release that the settlement will deliver nearly
Visa, Mastercard and card-issuing banks already settled a $30 billion in savings just in the first five years following
portion of the lawsuit in 2018, resulting in payouts of about approval.
$6 billion to merchants. This latest settlement proposal
focuses on the remaining allegations contained in a 2005 "This settlement is the culmination of eight years of hard-
class-action lawsuit alleging the card brands' and issuing fought litigation and detailed painstaking negotiations,"
banks' pricing and rules amount to antitrust activities. said Steve Shadowen of Hilliard Shadowen LLP, one of the
attorneys who helped negotiate the settlement. "It provides
The proposed settlement is detailed in a 262-page docu- comprehensive market-based solutions to too high [inter-
ment. In broad strokes it calls for: change], while providing immediate fee relief to merchants
• Rolling-back interchange by at least four basis point as they make these new competitive tools work for them."
for three years
• Eliminating anti-steering rules, thus allowing mer-
chants to encourage customers to use lower-cost pay- Contributed articles inside by:
ment methods and permitting card surcharging
Allen Kopelman .....................................................................................14
• Allowing for merchant buying groups to negotiate
interchange directly with the card brands Edvards Margevics ...............................................................................24

• A $15 million education campaign to help merchants James Huber ..........................................................................................26
make the most of the settlement terms Jeff Osheka .............................................................................................28

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