According to CNBC, Visa and Mastercard have agreed to pay a combined $167.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit. The suit accused the payment giants of conspiring to keep ATM access fees artificially high. The proposed settlement was filed on Thursday in federal district court in Washington, D.C., and still requires a judge’s approval. Visa would contribute about $88.8 million, while Mastercard would pay about $78.7 million into a settlement fund. The money is earmarked for potentially millions of ATM users who paid an unreimbursed access fee at independent, non-bank ATMs for transactions made since October 2007. This lawsuit is one of three related cases in that court and was originally filed all the way back in 2011.
A long-running fee fight
So here’s the thing: this isn’t the first big settlement on this issue, and it probably won’t be the last. Just last year, Visa and Mastercard coughed up $197.5 million to settle similar claims from users of bank-operated ATMs. And back in 2021, several banks paid $66 million. This latest deal is specifically for folks who used independent ATMs, like the ones in convenience stores or bars. The core accusation is that Visa and Mastercard had rules that blocked those independent operators from offering lower prices to customers. Basically, they’re accused of rigging the system to keep fees up. Both companies, of course, deny any wrongdoing.
Who actually benefits?
Now, the big question: who gets the money? Well, “potentially millions” of ATM users are eligible, but let’s be real. After the plaintiffs’ lawyers take their cut—they plan to ask for up to 30% of the fund, or about $50 million—and after the costs of administering a settlement this huge, the individual payout per person might not be massive. It’s often just a few bucks. But the lawyers call it “an excellent result,” which, given the risks and length of litigation, it probably is for them. The real impact might be more about precedent than your wallet. It’s another legal chink in the armor of the card networks’ fee structures.
The broader legal battlefield
This ATM fee saga is just one front in a much larger war. Visa, in particular, is facing other major antitrust lawsuits. The U.S. Justice Department has a separate case accusing it of illegally monopolizing the U.S. debit card market. And don’t forget, there’s still a third pending lawsuit in the same D.C. court from the independent ATM owners and operators themselves. So while this settlement closes one chapter, the book on legal challenges to card network fees is far from finished. It seems like regulators and class action attorneys are constantly probing for the next pressure point in the payments ecosystem.
