Visa/MasterCard Settlement FAQ

What is this settlement?

The Visa/Mastercard Settlement arose from a lawsuit claiming that merchants paid excessive interchange or swipe fees for accepting Visa and Mastercard payments because of an alleged conspiracy among Visa, Mastercard, and the Bank Defendants.

When will the claims process begin for this settlement?

After years of delays, the Court granted Final Approval of this Settlement on December 13, 2019. However, some organizations have filed appeals to the final-approval order. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments regarding objections to the final approval of the Settlement on March 16, 2022. At this time, it is unknown when the appeals will be decided. A claims process will not begin until all appeals are resolved.

At this time, it is unknown how long the appeals process will take, but here are two key takeaways:

1. When a claims process is available, merchants must submit a claim to the Settlement Administrator or have a claim submitted on their behalf to be eligible to receive any cash from the $5.54 billion settlement fund.
2. Although the claim forms are not yet available, merchants can engage MCAG now to ensure that a proper and timely claim is filed on behalf of their business.

What period of time does this settlement cover?

 The settlement covers payments your organization accepted via Visa or Mastercard from January 1, 2004 to January 25, 2019.

What is an MCAG access code? How do we obtain a code?

The MCAG access code, which is also referred to as a login, processor, or campaign code, is a unique code that allows merchants to register for MCAG's service. This is a 6-digit alphanumeric code that merchants receive from one of MCAG's strategic partners, such as a merchant services provider, healthcare association, retail association, EHR provider, attorney, or benefits consultant.

What is a Merchant ID Number or MID?

A Merchant ID Number is assigned by credit card processors/merchant services providers. This can be found either on a billing statement or by contacting the merchant services provider.

What is an Interchange Fee?

When a cardholder makes a purchase with a credit or debit card, there is an interchange fee charged to the merchant. This fee is usually 1% to 2% of the purchase price. Interchange fees typically account for the greatest part of the fees paid by merchants for accepting Visa and Mastercard.

Visa and Mastercard set interchange fee rates for different kinds of transactions and publish these rates on their websites, usually twice a year.

Is there a claim filing deadline?

The filing deadline has yet to be determined. Claim forms have been approved and the settlement administrator plans to open the claims filing process in December 2023. MCAG will update registered clients via email as soon as the court sets the deadline for submitting claims.

Can we file our own claim?

Yes. Once claim forms are available, you can go to the court website for more information. The link is www.paymentcardsettlement.com.

Class members are not required to sign up for a third-party service to participate in any monetary relief from this settlement. Also, the court wants to communicate that no-cost assistance will be available from the Class Administrator and Class Counsel during the claims-filing period. You may file into the Settlement on your own by following the steps outlined in the claim form that you will receive from the Class Administrator.

Why use MCAG?

MCAG is an expert at identifying and recovering non-traditional high-margin revenue for all types of organizations from class action settlements. We have experience and credibility in getting the most for your claim with the least effort on your part. As part of its comprehensive services, MCAG will:

• Acquire as much of the historical data applicable to the settlement as possible,
• Fill out all of the necessary documentation,
• Submit a comprehensive claim in an effort to maximize recoveries,
• Correspond with the Settlement Administrator,
• Reconcile returns on behalf of our clients, and
• Distribute net recoveries from the settlement funds.

All of these services are performed on a contingent fee basis – if there is no recovery, there will be no fee. If you do not file a valid and timely claim, or have a claim filed on your behalf by an authorized third-party filing agent like MCAG, then you will not recover any money from the settlement.

How much does MCAG charge for their service?

MCAG retains a percentage of any recoveries they obtain on your behalf. Services include all the necessary data analysis, document preparation, claims filing, recovery, and reconciliation for registered customers. If no money is recovered for your organization from the Settlement, then MCAG will not charge or retain a fee.

Do I need to provide any merchant statements or transaction data if I use MCAG?

No, we simply need your merchant identification numbers, associated credit card processor/merchant service provider names, associated tax id's, and associated address locations.

What if we have more than one location with different Tax ID Numbers and/or Merchant ID Numbers?

If your business has multiple locations, we ask that you complete our online registration using information corresponding to your headquarters/primary location. Once you complete that submission, you will receive instructions to register for MCAG's Settlement Recovery HUB where you can easily provide additional information for your organization, such as additional locations, tax IDs, and merchant IDs.

If you own more than one business and the businesses operate as separate entities, then we suggest that you complete a registration form for each distinct business.

If you did not process with your current payment card processor/merchant service provider all the way back to 2004, then you can provide information from your previous processors. Still, your current merchant information is what is most critical.

How do we get paid?

The court approved administrator sends settlement funds directly to MCAG. Upon receiving funds, MCAG conducts a complete reconciliation of payments, deducts its service fee, and then distributes the net settlement check to its clients.

I believe we already registered in MCAG's services for the VMC Settlement. How can I verify?

Please use the MCAG chat window or the contact form at www.mcaginc.com and provide your business name, address, phone number, and email. An MCAG account manager will get back to you.

How do we receive updates on this settlement?

Once you register for MCAG's services, they will email you periodic updates. Please make sure MCAG is whitelisted on your email program to ensure you receive these updates. Also, you can go to the court website for any additional updates. The website is www.paymentcardsettlement.com.

Can my business exclude itself from the settlement / not participate in the settlement?

Merchants had until July 23, 2019, to exclude themselves from the settlement. If you excluded yourself from the settlement, you cannot get any money from this settlement. You can also find more detailed information on this topic at the Official Court-authorized settlement website www.paymentcardsettlement.com.

How much money will I get back?

This is a fixed-fund settlement, and since we expect that the settlement will be oversubscribed (meaning the dollar value of the claims submitted will exceed the total of the settlement fund), all submissions will be pro rata reduced (meaning that claimants will receive a portion of the total of their estimated interchange fee volume during the settlement period). At this time, there is no way to estimate your return accurately.

For example, if the total settlement fund = $5 billion and the total amount of valid claims submitted = $125 billion, then the payout from the settlement will be a pro rata portion of each $1.00 submitted as a claim. In this example, where $125 billion in claims is submitted to a $5 billion fund, each claimant would receive a gross payout of $0.04 for every $1.00 of valid claims submitted.

Returns could be significant because over 150 of the largest merchants, such as Wal-Mart, Amazon, Delta Airlines, American Airlines, and Google, have already been compensated by the defendants or have opted out of the settlement class. So these companies are not eligible to be paid from the $5 billion in net settlement funds.

What if I do nothing – will I receive proceeds from the settlement fund?

Class members are required to submit a claim in order to receive any proceeds (monetary relief) from this settlement. Therefore, if you do not submit a claim on your own, or have MCAG or another third party submit a claim on your behalf, then you will not receive any of the settlement funds (cash payment from the settlement).

Disclaimer:  Claim forms will begin to be delivered and available online in December. No-cost assistance is available from the Class Administrator and Class Counsel during the claims-filing period. No one is required to sign up with any third-party service in order to participate in any monetary relief. For additional information regarding the status of the litigation, interested persons may visit www.paymentcardsettlement.com, the Court-approved website for this case.