Visa, Mastercard agree to pay combined $167.5m in ATM fee lawsuit

Visa and Mastercard have agreed to a combined payment of $167.5m to resolve a class action lawsuit concerning ATM access fees.

The proposed settlement was submitted to a federal court in Washington, US, and awaits judicial approval, reported Reuters.

The settlement is intended to benefit potentially millions of individuals who paid unreimbursed access fees for cash withdrawals at independent, non-bank automated teller machines (ATMs).

Visa is set to provide around $88.8m, while Mastercard will contribute nearly $78.7m to a fund that will be distributed to eligible users with qualifying ATM transactions dating back to October 2007.

According to Reuters, neither the payment firms nor the lead attorneys for consumers provided immediate comment to requests for comment.

The case, filed in 2011, is said to be one of three related lawsuits in the D.C. federal court.

According to Reuters, consumers challenged Visa and Mastercard’s industry rules, which allegedly prevented independent ATM operators from offering lower prices.

Both firms have denied any wrongdoing, Reuters reported.

In 2024, the two firms were said to have agreed to pay $197.5m to settle claims from another group of ATM users who said they were “overcharged” at bank-operated ATMs.

In 2021, multiple banks agreed to pay $66m to settle their part in the litigation, Reuters added.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs described the latest settlement in a court filing as “an excellent result in light of the risks of continued prosecution.”

They noted their intention to request up to 30% of the fund, or nearly $50m, in legal fees.

A third related lawsuit, brought by independent ATM owners and operators, remains unresolved in the same court.

Visa is also a defendant in other antitrust actions, including a case brought by the US Justice Department that accuses the company of monopolising the US debit card market. Visa has denied those allegations.

Last month, Visa and Mastercard reportedly reached a revised $38bn settlement with US merchants who alleged the card networks imposed excessive charges for processing credit card transactions.

“Visa, Mastercard agree to pay combined $167.5m in ATM fee lawsuit” was originally created and published by Electronic Payments International, a GlobalData owned brand.

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