(4 September 2024 – United Kingdom) The Competition Appeal Tribunal has approved a class action lawsuit, allowing UK businesses to seek compensation for losses due to unlawfully high multilateral interchange fees (MIFs) on commercial card transactions.
Trade organisations such as UK Hospitality and ABTA have backed the claims, highlighting the damaging impact of MIFs on businesses throughout the UK.
MIFs are paid by businesses through fees to their banks, known as acquiring banks, for accepting commercial card payments. Both the UK Supreme Court and the Court of Justice of the EU have previously ruled against similar practices by Mastercard and Visa.
The class action litigation aims to hold Mastercard and Visa accountable for these practices and to push for changes in how these fees are imposed.
In a written statement to Payments Cards & Mobile Mastercard stated, “We disagree with the basis of this claim. Businesses get real value when they choose to accept cards issued on our network, helping them grow their sales, ensure a guaranteed payment, reach new customers and reduce fraud.”