Amazon, Mastercard, banks reach settlement in lawsuit over conduct, fees

Amazon settlement overview: 

• Who: Mastercard, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank and Wells Fargo reached a settlement with Amazon. 
• Why: Amazon accused the companies of conspiring to charge inflated transaction fees.
• Where: The Mastercard fees multidistrict litigation came in federal court in New York.

Mastercard and a group of banks agreed to settle a lawsuit in which Amazon claimed they conspired to charge inflated transaction fees.

The banks include Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank and Wells Fargo. There are no details on the settlement, which comes on the heels of a similar settlement between Visa and Amazon.

Amazon filed a Feb. 29 request to dismiss the Mastercard fees complaint with prejudice with U.S. District Judge Margo K. Brodie.

The lawsuit claimed the banks and credit card companies violated antitrust laws by working together to eliminate competition and inflate interchange fees related to transactions.

Fees MDL included $5.6B settlement with merchants in 2022

The lawsuit was part of a larger 19-year multidistrict litigation. Mastercard and Visa initially settled for more than $6 billion in 2012, but Costco and a group of merchants opposed the terms.

Costco and the others reached an updated settlement with Amazon. Judge Brodie approved the deal with 12 million merchants for $5.6 billion in March 2023.

Do you believe credit card companies should determine the fees they charge to merchants? Let us know in the comments.

Amazon is represented by Jeffrey I. Shinder, A. Owen Glist, Ankur Kapoor, Taline Sahakian, David A. Scupp and W. Stephen Cannon of Constantine Cannon LLP.

Mastercard is represented by Gary R. Carney, Kenneth A. Gallo and Donna M. Ioffredo of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison LLP.

Bank of America is represented by Michael B. Miller and Natalie Fleming Nolen of Morrison and Foerster LLP and Jantra Van Roy and David B. Chenkin of Zeichner Ellman and Krause LLP.

JPMorganChase is represented by Boris Bershtyn and Kamali P. Willett of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher and Flom LLP. Citigroup is represented by Benjamin R. Nagin and Thomas A. Paskowitz of Sidley Austin LLP.

Wells Fargo is represented by William F. Cavanaugh of Patterson Belknap Webb and Tyler LLP.

The Amazon settlement resolves In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 1:05-md-01720, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Amazon hit with class actions, gets trial date, updates Ring policies
• FTC monopolization lawsuit against Amazon gets 2026 trial date
• Amazon Prime class action claims subscribers hit with ad-free streaming charge
• Amazon class action alleges algorithms favor retailer, affiliate products