Mastercard Announces Agreement To Settle Monetary Damages Claims In U.S.

(RTTNews) - Mastercard announced it has reached an agreement to settle monetary damages claims in the U.S. merchant class-action litigation. The agreement formalizes prior discussions and has been executed by all of the defendants - including Mastercard, Visa and a number of banks - and the court-appointed class counsel for the merchants. Mastercard and its customer financial institutions will receive a release of all monetary claims alleged by the merchant class members concerning the company's interchange and fee structure and merchant acceptance rules. This release covers all previous, as well as future claims, for a period of five years after resolution of all appeals.

In addition to the original 2012 monetary terms, Mastercard's share of the financial agreement is an additional $108 million. In total, the defendants have agreed upon an additional payment of $900 million in the current agreement.

The company recorded a $210 million charge in its second-quarter 2018 financial statements.