Visa and Mastercard have agreed to pay $197.5 million in a preliminary settlement with ATM clients who accused the card processors of fixing the price of fees at ATM.
The settlement, which was filed by plaintiffs on 30th May and is subject to court approval, marks the end of litigation stretching back more than a decade.
The agreement follows a separate $66.7 million deal agreed to by JPMorgan & Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America in 2021 over similar allegations of fixing ATM prices.
“The proposed Settlement, if finally approved, will resolve all of Plaintiffs’ claims against the Network Defendants and will bring this longstanding and hard-fought case to a close,” the plaintiffs said in court filings.
The agreement comes after the US Supreme Court last month denied a request to review class certification in the case.
Visa agreed to pay 53% of the settlement amount, or $104.7 million, while Mastercard would pay the other $92.8 million.
If the deal is approved, the money could be split by an estimated 175 million to 215 million people in the settlement class, covering anyone who used an ATM in the US from October 2007 to the time the settlement is approved — or more than half the population of the US.
The companies were first accused in 2011 of fixing ATM prices and suppressing competition from ATMs of different brands. Separate cases from ATM owners and others are still pending.
Visa and Mastercard separately reached a deal with merchants in March to end litigation and cap interchange fees.
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