How interchange fees became a $5.54 billion case

Every time a customer pays with a card, the merchant pays an interchange fee — roughly 1 to 2% of the transaction. For most businesses that accept cards, it's the largest fee they pay, and it's set by parties the merchant never negotiates with.

That's the heart of the case. Merchants alleged that Visa, Mastercard, and their member banks engaged in anti-competitive interchange fee practices — setting fees collectively and imposing rules that kept merchants from steering customers toward cheaper payment methods. Consolidated as MDL 1720 in the Eastern District of New York, it became one of the largest antitrust class actions in U.S. history.

The class period runs from January 1, 2004 through January 25, 2019. If your business accepted Visa or Mastercard during that window, it was part of the class.

The court granted final approval in December 2019, resolving those claims for a $5.54 billion merchant fund. Then the process everyone underestimates began: notice, claims, objections, and appeals.

The claims-filing window closed on February 4, 2025. That date is permanent. No legitimate service can file this claim for you now, and anyone who says otherwise is misleading you.

On October 30, 2025, the court approved the first partial distribution — the point at which the case stopped being litigation and started being payment. On May 4, 2026, the Second Circuit affirmed the settlement, with en banc petitions still pending. Distribution checks are rolling out through 2026.

So the case that began as a fight over a fee of a percent or two is now a distribution exercise across millions of merchants. If you filed, your claim is in the queue and can be tracked, audited, or sold. If you didn't, the useful move is watching the next wave — new antitrust settlements open every quarter.