Merchant suit asserts American Express policies inflate cost of card payments.
In December 2024, American Express failed in its attempt to persuade a federal judge to block a proposed class action suit filed by merchants.
The suit, filed in March 2024 by ten small merchants, contends that American Express is inflating the cost of credit card payments by enforcing "non-discrimination provisions" which prevent merchants from steering customers toward payment methods that charge lower transaction fees. The merchants assert this is in violation of US antitrust laws.
American Express argued that the claims were too varied for a class action and sought to have the case handled on an individual basis. This argument was rejected by the court.
Prior to filing the lawsuit, more than 5,000 merchants had attempted to resolve the issue through arbitration, but American Express did not pay the over $17 million in filing fees for the mass arbitration, so the proceeding was closed.
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