CREDIT CARD FEES
Court rejects bid to revive $7.25bn settlement with Visa and MasterCard
The settlement targeted by merchants had been intended to resolve claims they were overcharged on ‘swipe fees’
Washington — The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a bid by retailers to revive a $7.25bn antitrust settlement they reached with Visa and MasterCard over claims the card networks improperly fixed credit and debit card fees. The court left in place a 2016 lower court decision that threw out the settlement on the basis that it was unfair to retailers that stood to receive no payments and derive no other benefits. The brief Supreme Court order noted that Chief Justice John Roberts and Judge Samuel Alito had not participated in consideration of whether to take up the appeal. No reason was given. The settlement had been intended to resolve claims that merchants were overcharged on interchange fees, or "swipe fees", when shoppers used credit or debit cards and were barred from directing customers toward cheaper means of payment. The deal had been the largest all-cash US antitrust settlement, although its value shrank to about $5.7bn after about 8,000 retailers "opted out".
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