A judge who rejected a proposed $30 billion settlement between card issuers Visa and Mastercard and merchants said the issuers could likely handle a 'substantially greater' settlement.
A federal judge said Friday that card issuers Visa and Mastercard could likely withstand a "substantially greater" settlement with merchants who argued they overpaid swipe fees than the proposed $30 billion settlement she rejected last week. U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie of the Eastern District of New York provided that assessment in an 88-page opinion she released Friday, just three days after she rejected the preliminary $30 billion settlement.
Without evidence of Visa's and Mastercard's profitability, the court cannot say with certainty that defendants can withstand a greater judgment; however, the evidence strongly suggests that they could withstand a substantially greater judgment," Brodie wrote. The long-running antitrust litigation around swipe fees began in 2005 and could go to trial if the card issuers and merchants aren't able to agree on a new settlement that passes the judge's review.
While we are disappointed with the judge's decision, we continue to believe that direct resolution with merchants is the best way forward and are evaluating all options as the case proceeds," Visa told FOX Business in a statement. "The U.S. payments ecosystem is the most advanced in the world, and our focus is on maintaining the security, innovation, rewards and access to credit that are critical to American consumers and small businesses that power our economy," Visa added.
In the wake of the ruling, Mastercard previously expressed disappointment and said the settlement would've encouraged competition and given millions of businesses "substantial certainty and enormous value in how they manage their card acceptance activities." Under the terms of the settlement rejected by the judge, card issuers would've lowered the typical 1.5% to 3.5% swipe fee by 0.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Visa, Mastercard $30 billion swipe fee settlement rejected by US judgeVisa, Mastercard $30 billion swipe fee settlement rejected by US judge
Read more »
Visa, Mastercard $30 billion swipe-fee deal blocked by judgeA federal judge said earlier this month that nothing she heard had changed her mind that the settlement should be approved.
Read more »
Federal judge rejects $30 billion settlement between Visa, Mastercard and retailersA federal judge overseeing a $30 billion preliminary swipe-fees settlement between Mastercard, Visa and retailers formally rejected the deal Tuesday. The ruling likely means the credit card processors will have to make more concessions to resolve their long-standing dispute with merchants.
Read more »
Judge rejects $30 billion Visa, Mastercard swipe-fee settlementThe credit card companies will have to either renegotiate the deal with merchants or go to trial.
Read more »
Judge puts $30 billion Visa, Mastercard settlement on hold; likely sign of rejectionA federal judge said she’s not likely to approve the $30 billion settlement between the payment processing giants Visa and Mastercard and the merchants who say they’ve overpaid on swipe fees
Read more »
Judge puts $30 billion Visa, Mastercard settlement on hold, in signal of likely rejectionA federal judge said she’s not likely to approve the $30 billion settlement between the payment processing giants Visa and Mastercard and the merchants who say they’ve overpaid on swipe fees. In a brief order, Judge Margo Brodie of the Eastern District of New York said she was unlikely to grant final approval to the settlement.
Read more »