The UK’s Competition Appeals Tribunal has approved a $4 billion class action lawsuit initiated by UK businesses regarding the multilateral interchange fees charged by Mastercard and Visa.
The lawsuit, supported by major trade organizations such as UK Hospitality and the Association of British Travel Agents, asserts that businesses accepting payments via commercial cards faced excessively high fees, resulting in substantial financial losses.
The Tribunal rejected objections from Mastercard and Visa, allowing the claims to proceed as collective actions. Lawyers representing the plaintiffs are urging businesses to express their interest in participating to claim their share of any awarded damages.
Jeremy Robinson, a partner at Harcus Parker Limited, commented on the Tribunal’s decision: “We are committed to ensuring proper compensation for businesses and organizations across the UK affected by Mastercard and Visa’s unlawful multilateral interchange fees.
“These fees function like a tax on businesses, inflating the costs that companies incur from their banks for processing commercial card transactions. Our claims aim to recover the losses incurred due to the practices of Visa and Mastercard and to advocate for the abolition of such practices.”
Robinson noted that both the UK Supreme Court and the Court of Justice of the EU have criticized similar conduct by Mastercard and Visa. He added, “We welcome the opportunity to hold these companies accountable for imposing unlawfully high multilateral interchange fees, which have led to significant losses for UK businesses. We’re pleased that this crucial claim will move forward, despite Mastercard and Visa’s attempts over the past two years to obstruct access to justice for thousands of UK businesses through the Competition Appeal Tribunal. The estimated losses for businesses across the UK are significant, totaling at least $4 billion.”