Anna Bradley-Smith  |  August 9, 2021

Category: Credit Cards

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Visa and Mastercard class action lawsuit
(Photo Credit: Yuri Samsonov/Shutterstock)

Visa Mastercard Class Action Lawsuit Overview:

  • Who: Consumers and ATM operators have sued Visa and Mastercard over certain fees.
  • Why: The plaintiffs allege major banks overcharged for access fees at ATM terminals.
  • Where: The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C.

Consumers and ATM operators who allege that Visa and Mastercard set fees that broke antitrust laws have had their class action lawsuit certified by a federal judge more than a decade after it was first filed.

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon certified three classes in D.C. federal court last week – two that will include millions of consumers and one that will be composed of thousands of operators – that all allege that the major banks overcharged for access fees at ATM terminals, Law360 reports.

Leon rejected the banks’ argument that there was no proof of injury amongst the consumers and operators, saying that the situation was “quite the opposite.”

“In complicated antitrust cases such as these with tens of thousands of potential class members and so few individualized issues, requiring individual litigation of each class member’s claims would merely multiply the number of trials with the same issues and evidence.”

The case was first filed more than a decade ago in D.C. court, where it has played out until it made its way before Judge Leon. The consumers and operators have alleged since the start that the ATM surcharges they were forced to pay by Visa and Mastercard were set above market rate due to the companies interference.

However, the banks have argued that they do set the surcharge rates, the ATM operators do. The companies said that neither the consumers or operators can prove any damage came from the banks’ rates, adding “none of the plaintiff groups can prove class-wide injury with common evidence.”

Leon rejected those arguments, and said that there were no inherent difficulties that undermined the maintenance of the cases as class actions.

Attorney for the ATM operators, Jonathan Rubin, told Law360 that long-standing rules adopted by the member banks of Visa and Mastercard have stifled competition between ATM networks for years, inflating prices for ATM operators and consumers alike.

“Today’s ruling marks a significant step toward loosening the grip of Visa and Mastercard on the market for ATM network services and promises to benefit all independent ATM operators as well as the millions of cardholders that depend on U.S. independent ATMs every day.”

Do you use your Visa or Mastercard card in ATMs? Tell us what you think of the surcharge costs in the comments section!

Mastercard is represented by Kenneth A. Gallo, Justin Anderson, and Gary R. Carney of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP.

Visa is represented by Matthew Adam Eisenstein, and Mark Ralph Merley of Arnold & Porter.

The ATM operators are represented by Jonathan Rubin, Daniel Mogin, and Jennifer Oliver of MoginRubin LLP and Don A. Resnikoff of the Law Offices of Don Resnikoff.

The Burke consumers are represented by Douglas G. Thompson of Finkelstein Thompson LLP and Christopher Lovell, Gary S. Jacobson, and Merrick Scott Rayle of Lovell Stewart Halebian Jacobson LLP. The Mackmin consumers are represented by Steve W. Berman, Ben Harrington, and Ben Siegal of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP and Stephen Neuwirth, Adam Wolfson, Viola Trebicka, and Michael Bonanno of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP.

The Visa, Mastercard Class Action Lawsuit is National ATM Council, et al., v. Visa Inc. et al., Case No. 1:11-cv-01803, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.


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39 thoughts on​​Consumers, ATM Operators Have Class Action Against Visa, MasterCard Certified by Federal Judge

  1. Donald R Tharpe says:

    Yes I just went and got some GAS and it was only $5.00 but once I got DONE PAYING for the GAS,it came out to be $8.15!!! AND was ONLY because of the SERVICE CHARGES, that they said that I HAD to PAY. Since I had USE MY “””MASTER CARD””” at the PUMP!!! ( SO NOW PLEASE IMAGE IF THAT HAPPENS EVERYTIME you use ur CARD AT THR PUMP!!!(AT LESS 2-4 times a DAY!!!) AND ALO IF YOU GETS CASH BACK AT AN BANK FOR $300 – $400 dollars 3 to 5 times a week. (SO ACTIONLY you/we are SPENDING more oN the “””CARD FEES””” than we ACTUALLY ARE SENDING on what We are using the MONEY FOR!!! THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!!!

  2. Catherine Spoon says:

    Not only does your bank charges you but also the ATM and the company there from charges you it can be in excess of $6 per transaction just withdraw money it’ll break you just in fees

  3. Catherine Spoon says:

    ATM fees are ridiculous when not only your bank charges you but also the ATM and the company there from charges you it can be in excess of $6 per transaction just withdraw money it’ll break you just in fees

  4. Catherine Spoon says:

    Charges from both places will break you fast. You have to make sure you have at least $5 per each transactions at some atms its more.

  5. Catherine Spoon says:

    Charges from both places will break you fast. You have to make sure you have at least $5 per each transactions at some atms it more. You not only get charged by your bank but also by the ATM. Its highway robbery.

  6. Catherine Spoon says:

    Charges from both places will break you fast. You have to make sure you have at least $5 per each transactions at some atms it more. Ive always thought the fees were ridiculous. You not only get charged by your bank but also by the ATM. Its highway robbery.

  7. Josephine Jefferson says:

    Pls add me

    1. Donald R Tharpe says:

      ADD ME TO THE LAW SUIT ALSO PLEASE!!!

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