Visa and Mastercard have agreed to a $197 million settlement to resolve a long-running class action lawsuit that accused the payment giants of keeping ATM fees artificially high.
The plaintiffs argued that Visa and Mastercard’s ATM network rules led to Americans paying higher-than-necessary fees when withdrawing cash from bank-operated machines. According to court documents, Visa has agreed to pay $104.6 million, while Mastercard will contribute $92.8 million. This settlement offer is still pending court approval.
The settlement proposal follows the US Supreme Court’s April rejection of an appeal by Visa and Mastercard, which sought to challenge a lower court’s ruling. This rejection effectively upheld the plaintiffs’ claims against the card companies.
In 2021, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo settled similar claims for $66 million. Visa and Mastercard are also facing two related class action suits: one from consumers using non-bank ATMs and another from companies that own independent cash machines.