Credit Card Settlement
Posted on December 14, 2007
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In a lawsuit against some big-name credit card companies accused of inflating their rates on foreign purchases and adding hidden fees to consumers. Without admitting guilt, Visa and MasterCard agreed to settle the lawsuit and pay $336 million.
Subject to final Court approval, a settlement has been reached in In re Foreign Currency Conversion Fee Antitrust Litigation (MDL 1409). This web site supplies information about the litigation and the settlement, and provides links to relevant documents for Members of the Settlement Classes and others interested in the settlement.
The lawsuit is about the price cardholders of Visa-, MasterCard-, or Diners Club-branded payment cards were charged to make transactions in a foreign currency, or with a foreign merchant, between February 1, 1996 and November 8, 2006. Plaintiffs challenge how the prices of credit and debit/ATM card foreign transactions were set and disclosed, including claims that Visa, MasterCard, their member banks, and Diners Club conspired to set and conceal fees, typically of 1-3% of foreign transactions, and that Visa and MasterCard inflated their base exchange rates before applying these fees. The Defendants include Visa, MasterCard, Diners Club, Bank of America, Bank One/First USA, Chase, Citibank, MBNA, HSBC/Household, and Washington Mutual/Providian. They deny the Plaintiffs’ claims and say they have done nothing wrong, improper, or unlawful.
The attorneys now need to gather information on which consumers might be eligible to receive refunds if the federal court approves the settlement.
Credit card users can sign up for a refund of money if they had one of these cards and used it in a foreign transaction between 1996 and 2006.
Consumers have three options to be a part of the settlement and receive a refund. Only one of those options requires you to give out your credit card and bank information if you can prove you are entitled to more than $25.
The bottom line is the “U.S. District Court Approved Refund Notice” many viewers received is legitimate. There is a lot of fine print that should be read.
You can find more information at this website: www.ccfsettlement.com.