Visa, MasterCard Sue Interchange-Fee Settlement Drop Outs
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Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. sued trade groups and retailers that rejected a $7.25 billion settlement in a price-fixing suit and asked a court to rule that the card companies’ fee practices weren’t illegal.
The settlement, described by plaintiffs in that case as the largest in an antitrust lawsuit, would end an eight-year legal battle over the swipe, or interchange, fees charged to merchants when customers use credit cards to pay. The plaintiffs accused Visa and MasterCard, the two largest U.S. payment-card firms, of illegally fixing the fees.