Payment Card Newsflash #011

Dear Credit Card Merchants:

You may have received in recent days a ‘Notice of Class Action Settlement Authorized by the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York’. It addresses a ‘$6+ billion settlement….to merchants that accepted Visa and MasterCard since 2004’.

In 2005, various groups of merchants filed a number of class action lawsuits against Visa, MasterCard and various financial institutions which issue payment cards carrying the Visa or MasterCard marks. The class groups of plaintiffs claimed that Visa, MasterCard and the named financial institutions unlawfully set the fees charged to merchants for U.S. credit card transactions over the Visa and MasterCard networks.

They also claimed that the rules enacted by the card networks prevented them from adequately protecting themselves against those fees. All of these lawsuits were consolidated in federal court in New York for more efficient management and resolution.

We at the University of Florida are currently evaluating our options and are in increased contact with our credit card processor and acquirer concerning this issue.

There is no action needed on your part at this time, and we will keep you informed about any steps taken by UF in regards to this settlement.