Thursday, February 1, 2024 - After the
VISA/MasterCard case was filed over 18 years
ago, and over 5 years since the court approved
the September 18, 2018 Class Settlement
Agreement, the Class Administrator of the $5.5
billion payment card interchange fee settlement
fund has mailed out claim forms to
retailers/marketers who may be eligible for a
share of the Settlement Fund.
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CLAIMANTS must have
accepted VISA and/or MasterCard as payment
for their sales of goods or services between
January 1, 2004 and
January 25, 2019.
Claim Forms must be submitted by
May 31, 2024.
If you received a Claim Form in the mail
and want to file a claim online using the
Claimant ID provided, please click the
Submit a Claim button at this link:
https://www.paymentcardsettlement.com/en.
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Branded marketers
should submit a claim, for branded sales,
even though there is currently a dispute
about whether they or their branded supplier
is entitled to recover the settlement share
for credit card sales through their branded
supplier s respective systems. As previously
reported by the Energy Marketers of America
(EMA), a Special Master has been appointed
by the court to hear appeals from denials of
eligibility, such as claim denials based on
the alleged status of branded retailers as
indirect payers.
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THE CLAIMS The
actual claim amount, per $ of sales
approved, will be calculated after the
Claims Administrator calculates the total
amount of the Claims submitted. If you
receive a claim form in the mail, fill it
out and return it to the Settlement
Administrator in accordance with the
instructions on the form using the assigned
Claim ID number. If your claim is denied,
you will be able to bring it before the
Special Master for review. If you did not
receive a form, you can access the
settlement website below and enter your Tax
ID number (TIN) to find out whether the
Settlement Administrator considers you
eligible at
http://www.paymentcardsettlement.com/en/Login.
While EMA has not secured the
procedures to be utilized by the Special
Master, a determination of ineligibility
obtained by accessing the above-referenced
login information should be sufficient as a
denial of your claim to warrant an appeal to
the Special Master.
Please note that
the Court Approved Claim Form" is only 1
page long. Other than claimant
identification, it only contains one
substantive question. It requires a claimant
to fill in the blank for "Class Period
(Jan.1 2004-Jan. 25, 2019) Interchange Fees
Paid. Marketers should not need any
assistance in completing or filing their
claims. A fund this large attracts firms who
think of inventive ways to obtain some of
the settlement. We have heard from several
marketers who have received solicitations to
assist with their claims due to the
anticipated long delay until payout. Given
that this case was filed in 2005, the time
until payout is unknown but it will likely
be lengthy. Marketers may of course choose
their own path but should understand that
filing their claim form is simple.
If
your claim is denied on the ground that you
are an indirect payer, and you wish to
lodge an appeal, you may want to first seek
guidance from your attorney, although you
are free to file your appeal without
attorney assistance. The primary basis for
any such appeal would be that you are, in
fact, a direct payer of the interchange fees
paid on each card transaction.
Comments and/or Questions? Please Contact EMA
General Counsel Below Bob
Bassman,
bbass@bmalaw.net Al Alfano
aalfano@bmalaw.net
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