Mastercard reaches 'agreement in principle' to settle London lawsuit

4/12/2024 6:07

        Mastercard has reached
        an agreement in principle to settle a collective London lawsuit
        brought on behalf of British consumers over card fees, it said
        on Tuesday.
        
        The global payments processor was facing a lawsuit brought
        by consumer champion Walter Merricks on behalf of approximately
        46 million adults in the United Kingdom.
        
        The case became the first mass consumer action to be
        approved in the UK in 2021 after a nearly five-year journey from
        the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) to the UK Supreme Court
        and back.
        
        Mastercard said that, during the latest round of the case at
        the CAT on Tuesday, it was announced the company and Merricks –
        as the representative of the claimant class – had reached an
        agreement to settle the case, subject to the tribunal's
        approval.
        
        The CAT said in its most recent judgment in October that the
        value of the entire claim was stated by the claimants' lawyers
        to be about 10 billion pounds ($12.7 billion).
        
        A person familiar with the agreement, however, said the
        figure of the settlement was around 200 million pounds.
        
        "We are pleased to have reached an agreement in principle to
        put this case behind us," a Mastercard spokesperson said in a
        statement.
        
        Merricks said in a statement: "I am very pleased that after
        nearly nine years of litigation with Mastercard, I have agreed a
        settlement that I believe will deliver meaningful compensation
        to class members who choose to come forward to participate in
        the distribution of the damages."