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A San Diego pizzeria has filed a proposed class action accusing Visa, Mastercard and five major banks of conspiring to keep merchant credit card fees high. The allegations cover transactions from Jan. 25, 2019, onward; the defendants’ responses and the case’s next court steps are not included in the source report.
A San Diego pizzeria has filed a proposed class action against Visa, Mastercard and five major banks, alleging they restrained competition and kept fees merchants pay on card transactions artificially high. The complaint seeks to represent U.S. merchants that accepted the networks’ credit cards from Jan. 25, 2019, until the alleged anticompetitive effects end; the claims have not been established in court.
The 134-page complaint names Bank of America, Capital One, Chase Bank, Citibank and Wells Fargo alongside Visa and Mastercard. It alleges that the defendants worked together over decades to set uniform interchange fees—charges paid by merchants to the banks that issue credit cards—and maintained rules that limited merchants’ ability to avoid those costs. The defendants’ responses are not reported in the available source material.
According to the suit, merchants that accept any Visa or Mastercard credit card have been required to accept all cards on the network, regardless of their costs. The complaint also alleges that rules have restricted merchants from steering customers toward cheaper payment methods, including by charging different prices depending on the card used. It says these conditions weakened incentives for banks and networks to compete on price.
The lawsuit also challenges network fees charged by Visa and Mastercard, which it describes as per-transaction and fixed charges distinct from interchange fees. The filing alleges those charges have added to merchants’ costs. It says merchants now pay more than $100 billion annually in fees to accept Visa and Mastercard credit cards; that figure is the complaint’s claim, and the source provides no independent verification or comparison period.
The Cost of Accepting Card Payments
If the allegations are proved, the case could affect the costs businesses face when customers pay by credit card and the rules governing which cards merchants must accept. Payment fees are a recurring expense for merchants, and the complaint argues that limited ability to negotiate or steer transactions leaves them with little control over those costs.
The potential class is broad: the filing seeks to include individuals, businesses and other entities in the United States that accepted Visa- or Mastercard-branded credit cards during the proposed period. That does not mean a class has been certified or that any merchant will receive compensation. The court would need to address the case before those outcomes could be determined.
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The Earlier Merchant Fee Settlements
The new suit follows earlier multidistrict litigation over merchant credit card fees. The complaint says a court approved a monetary class action settlement in December 2019, providing more than $5 billion in relief for merchants, but says that settlement covered a class period ending Jan. 24, 2019. The new proposed case focuses on transactions beginning the next day, Jan. 25, 2019.
The filing also points to a separate settlement seeking changes to network rules. According to the complaint, that settlement had received preliminary approval and its benefits would apply prospectively. The pizzeria’s suit argues that these earlier proceedings did not compensate merchants for fees paid after the prior monetary settlement’s cutoff. Those descriptions are the plaintiff’s account of the earlier settlements; the source does not provide court documents or further detail on their current implementation.
““A deadweight toll on virtually every credit card purchase in America.””
— The complaint
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Claims Await Court Review
The allegations have not been tested or upheld in court. The source report does not give the filing date, a case number, the defendants’ responses, or details of any hearing or deadline. It is also unclear whether a judge has acted on the proposed class or whether the case will proceed as a class action.
The proposed class period ends when the alleged anticompetitive effects cease, but the complaint’s account does not establish when or whether that would happen. The exact relief sought in this new case, beyond the proposed class claim, is not detailed in the source material. The $100 billion annual fee figure and descriptions of the earlier settlements are claims made in the complaint, not independent findings presented in the report.
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Court Steps and Responses
The case will next depend on court proceedings, including any response from the defendants and decisions about how the claims may proceed. A proposed class action must clear legal requirements before it can represent a class; filing alone does not certify the group or establish liability. The source material does not identify a scheduled hearing or other specific next date.
Further developments to watch include whether the defendants contest the allegations, how the court treats the proposed class period, and whether the case moves forward alongside or separately from the earlier litigation and settlement efforts. Until those steps occur, the fee-setting and merchant-rule claims remain allegations.
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Key Questions
Who filed the lawsuit?
A San Diego pizzeria filed the proposed class action. The source report does not provide the restaurant’s name.
Which companies are named?
The complaint names Visa, Mastercard, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase Bank, Citibank and Wells Fargo.
What does the lawsuit allege?
It alleges that the companies maintained rules and fee practices that limited competition and kept merchant charges high. These are claims in a complaint, not findings by a court.
Which transactions would the proposed class cover?
The proposed class covers U.S. individuals, businesses and other entities that accepted Visa- or Mastercard-branded credit cards from Jan. 25, 2019, until the alleged anticompetitive effects end. The court has not been reported to have certified the class.
When will the case be decided?
No hearing date or decision schedule is given in the source report. The defendants’ responses and the court’s next steps remain unclear.
Source: hn
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