UK Tribunal Reviews £5bn Card Fee Claim Against Visa and Mastercard
A proposed group claim alleges UK businesses were overcharged on card payments since October 2020 due to a lack of competition.
By Marco Graham ·
Two of the world's largest card networks face a proposed class action in the United Kingdom challenging how much merchants pay to process payments.
Law firms Harcus Parker and Hausfeld have filed an application at the Competition Appeal Tribunal seeking certification for a group claim against Visa and Mastercard. The firms allege the companies have stifled competition and overcharged businesses on customer card payments since October 2020.
The litigation targets multilateral interchange fees. These rates are set by the card networks and paid by merchants through their banks for each customer transaction. The claimants argue that insufficient competition leaves businesses paying elevated rates for debit, credit, and prepaid card processing.
Sources close to the claim estimate the action could recover approximately £5bn in fees charged over the past six years, plus interest on those losses. Bench Walk Advisors, a London-based litigation funder founded in 2017, is financing the case. Stephen Allen, a former travel sector executive who has pursued group actions against the networks since 2021, leads the effort.
If the tribunal approves the claim, approximately 1 million UK businesses, organizations, and charities with revenues below £100m would be automatically included unless they opt out. Participants in this group could receive several thousand pounds each. Larger companies must opt in to participate but could seek tens of millions over the claim period.
A Mastercard spokesperson characterized the proposed group action as speculative and argued it reflects a growing trend of opportunistic funder-backed litigation. The spokesperson also noted the claim targets the type of opt-out class action reforms recently proposed by the UK government. Visa maintained that interchange rates are a critical component of a secure payments ecosystem.
The timeline for resolution remains open. Visa and Mastercard agreed last year to pay a combined $167.5m to settle a US class action regarding ATM access fees, a case originally filed in 2011.
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