PayAnywhere Class Action Challenges Monthly Credit Card Reader Fees

A class action lawsuit claims North American Bancard LLC, which sells mobile credit card readers under the name “PayAnywhere,” falsely advertises the sale of this product as being “free, with no setup fees, monthly fees, or other hidden fees.”

Plaintiff Gerald McGhee of California accuses the company of fraudulent business practices such as intentional misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, and a breach of good faith and fair dealing.

McGhee says that in exchange for using the PayAnywhere product, he agreed that the defendant would get “a set percentage of transactions processed through the card reader.”

However, after McGhee purchased a card reader from NAB in November 2014, to process sales from a business that he owned, the defendant started “deducting fees from plaintiff’s bank account.” Moreover, McGhee says he contacted the defendant in an “effort to stop the charges and obtain a refund… the charges did not stop, however, and defendant continued to charge plaintiff monthly for several months thereafter.” This allegedly occurred even when the defendant vocalized that the charges would stop.

McGhee alleges that NAB’s website directly links to PayAnywhere.com where it continually states that its products have “no setup, monthly, or hidden fees” and that the user pays “just [a set percent] per swipe.” The plaintiff says that even after never using the card reader, the defendant still deducted monthly charges from the plaintiffs’ account from December 2015 to April 2016.

The plaintiff files this class action lawsuit individually and on behalf of all those similarly situated. He has reason to believe that the Class is comprised of more than 100 persons and that the “complaint exceeds the sum or value of $5,000,000.”

North American Bancard is headquartered in Michigan and was launched in 2011. According to its website, there are more than 250,000 customers across the nation and they process more than $34 billion every year.

McGhee says NAB is in violation of: 1) Negligent misrepresentation, 2) Fraudulent Concealment, 3) Intentional Misrepresentation, 4) Breach of the Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing, 5) Unjust Enrichment, 6) California’s Unfair Competition Law, and 7) California’s False Advertising Law.

The plaintiff seeks relief individually and behalf of all those suffering similar damages. McGhee further seek restitution “of all funds unlawfully acquired by defendant by means of any acts or practices declared by this court to violate the mandates established by California’s UCL and FAL.”

The plaintiff also wants an injunction that would stop the defendant from further dealing in such fraudulent practices and to mandate an immediate notice to all persons having suffered from the unfair business practices to then seek relief and restitution accordingly.

McGhee is represented by Craig M. Nicholas, Alex Tomasevic and Shaun Markley of Nicholas & Tomasevic LLP, and Eric A. LaGuardia of LaGuardia Law.

The PayAnywhere Monthly Fees Class Action Lawsuit is Gerald McGhee v. North American Bancard LLC, Case No. 3:17-cv-00586, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.