$6.25 Billion Antitrust Settlement in Interchange Fee Litigation

Robins Kaplan, serving as plaintiffs’ co-lead counsel, reached a $6.25 billion antitrust settlement on behalf of a class of over 10 million U.S. merchants who have accepted Visa and Mastercard credit cards and debit cards for the purchase of goods and services. This settlement, the result of 15 years of litigation, is the largest known settlement of a private antitrust case in the 120-year history of the Sherman act. The defendants include Visa and Mastercard, as well as major card-issuing banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, and Capital One. The settlement, which is subject to possible reduction of up to $700 million in the event opt-outs exceed a certain threshold, was given final approval by the court in December 2019. Appeals are ongoing.