The Visa/Mastercard Anti-Trust Class Action Lawsuit has been going on for about two decades now. The principal issue was the interchange fees that merchants were charged on Visa or Mastercard credit or debit transactions between January 1, 2004 and January 25, 2019.
After years of making its way through the courts, a $5.5 billion settlement has been approved. We’ll breakdown how this settlement affects U.S. merchants.
Settlement Payouts
On October 30, 2025, the Court approved a plan to issue initial, partial payments to certain claimants. Qualified merchants that filed a valid claim by the deadline earlier this year and had their claim approved can expect this payout beginning in February 2026. It should be noted that this initial payment is only a portion of the total $5.5 billion settlement. The remainder of the settlement will likely come once all of the claims are reviewed and outstanding legal issues have been resolved by the Court.
Merchants that received a payment election email on December 4, 2025, should log in to the Merchant Portal and follow the instructions to make their payment elections before the January 8, 2026 deadline. The email would have come directly from the Payment Card Settlement Administrator (noreply@paymentcardsettlement.com).
Alternatively, merchants can check their status by logging into the Settlement Merchant Portal.
Merchants do not need to work with third-party companies to receive their claim. If you’re a Wind River customer and you’re contacted by one, you can reach out to your relationship manager for guidance. If you’re not a Wind River customer, we’d be happy to help you as well. Feel free to call 833-274-5875 or reach out via the contact form on our website.
Additional Settlement Provisions
These provisions are under consideration but not yet approved and are subject to change.
- Credit Surcharging: Merchants will have expanded options to surcharge credit card transactions, even if they don’t surcharge other credit networks.
- Honor All Cards: Merchants will have the ability to choose which categories of U.S. credit cards to accept—such as commercial, premium consumer, or standard consumer cards.
- Lower Interchange Rates: The settlement would provide for a reduction in the U.S. combined average effective credit interchange rate by 10 basis points for five years.
- Interchange Rate Certainty: Posted U.S. credit interchange rates would be capped for five years, offering more predictability for merchants.
Wind River will continue to monitor developments in the Visa/Mastercard Anti-Trust Class Action Lawsuit closely. As new information becomes available, we’ll publish updates right here to keep you informed. If you’d like to receive timely email notifications about payments-related news, simply fill out the sign-up form on this page.
"*" indicates required fields