Mastercard, Visa settle lawsuits with retailers

Many business-to-business companies working with clients may need to ensure that they are providing every means necessary to keep a strong relationship between their consumers and the company at large. Any businesses that find their clients are pursuing legal action against them should partner with Phoenix business law attorneys to protect their firm.

Visa and Mastercard found themselves in a similar situation after merchants filed lawsuits against the credit card companies. The merchants brought forward an anti-trust case that accused the companies of charging businesses swipe fees for processing credit card transactions. This means that any customers that used credit cards to pay for products brought the business a higher amount of swipe fees.

The companies were violating a financial services overhaul law enacted in 2010 that forces caps on these types of charges, according to USA Today.

On Friday July 13, Mastercard and Visa officials said that they have come to a settlement with merchants by providing more than $7 billion to be divided among the plaintiffs. Visa will be paying $4.4 billion of the share. Also, merchants will get a 10-point reduction in credit interchange rates for the next eight months. The surcharge rule will be changed to enable merchants to remove these swipe fees when dealing with the credit card companies.

"Although we have strong defenses to all claims, a settlement avoids years of litigation and uncertainties that are inherent in such cases," Noah Hanft, a lawyer defending Mastercard, said in a statement.

Any other businesses that wish to protect their firm from bad publicity and avoid lawsuits from consumers or clients should consider speaking with business attorneys in Phoenix who can provide crucial legal advice in such situations.

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