Visa, MasterCard, Banks in $7.25 Billion Retail Settlement

Visa Inc, Mastercard Inc and banks issuing their credit cards have agreed to pay up to $7.25 billion and allow stores to encourage customers to use cheaper forms of payment

July 13, 2012

NEW YORK, July 13 - Visa Inc, Mastercard Inc and banks issuing their credit cards have agreed to pay up to $7.25 billion and allow stores to encourage customers to use cheaper forms of payment, according to settlement papers filed on Friday in a lawsuit in Brooklyn federal court.

The settlement, if approved by a judge, would resolve dozens of lawsuits filed by retailers in 2005, accusing the companies of fixing fees for processing credit and debit card payments and prohibiting stores from steering their customers to cheaper forms of payment.

(Reporting by Jessica Dye; Editing by Bernard Orr)

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