September 2026 Update:
On August 11, 2026, this case was transferred from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York which has jurisdiction over the payment card interchange fee and merchant discount antitrust litigation involving Visa and Mastercard. On September 8th, the parties are required to submit a joint status update to the court.
On June 16, 2026, Visa and Mastercard filed a motion asking the court to enforce the terms of the $5.5 billion 2019 anti-trust settlement against the three merchant plaintiffs that filed this suit, arguing their claims are barred by the future-claims release in that settlement. They assert this suit is an attempted "end-run" around the existing settlement. A ruling in Visa and Mastercard's favor would effectively dismiss this lawsuit. To date, the court has not issued a ruling on this motion.
Original Article, Published May 11, 2026
On April 21st, three New York based merchants filed a new lawsuit against Visa and Mastercard seeking damages associated with fees paid since January 2019. A $5.54 billion settlement, which is currently being paid out to merchants, covers a 15-year period through early 2019. The new suit asserts that Visa and Mastercard continued to engage in anticompetitive behavior despite the settlement and therefore should be liable for damages related to transactions after early 2019.
The new suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, NY, but a different court, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, NY, has jurisdiction over the $5.54 billion settlement. Therefore, the plaintiffs pursuing the new litigation are also requesting a summary judgment from U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan of the Eastern District to confirm that the terms of the prior settlement do not prevent them from pursuing their new case. The settlement agreement has language that reportedly protects Visa and Mastercard from similar claims until August 2028; the plaintiffs assert that the card networks should not be immune from damages associated with continued violation of antitrust laws.
The ongoing litigation stems from a 2005 lawsuit that accused Visa, Mastercard, and the banks that issue their payment cards of violating antitrust laws and causing merchants to pay excessive fees. While the $5.54 billion class action settlement compensates merchants who accepted Visa and Mastercard between 2004 and 2019, it did not address all the issues raised in the 2005 lawsuit, including a dispute over the rules Visa and Mastercard impose on merchants to accept their cards.
The issues that were not resolved by the $5.54 billion class action settlement are being addressed by a proposed $38 billion class action settlement announced on November 10, 2025. Judge Cogan, the same judge who is being asked to confirm that the new litigation is not precluded by the $5.54 billion class action settlement, is reviewing the proposed $38 billion class action settlement. For more information see Hearing Held on Proposed $38 Billion Visa and Mastercard Settlement.
Regardless of the outcome of the new litigation and the proposed $38 billion class action settlement, there is additional litigation pending with large merchants who opted out of the class action suits. At this time, most of the large merchants, including Amtrack, Crate & Barrel, Target and Nike, have settled their cases, however a group of 28 merchants led by GrubHub Holdings has yet to settle. Unless a settlement is reached, that trial is scheduled to start September 14th in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago, IL before Judge Edmond Chang. Settlement discussions are ongoing, and a May 26th status hearing has been scheduled by the Judge.
Verisave's Take:
After 21 years, it seemed that the 2005 lawsuit was finally inching towards resolution – that is until this new suit was filed. If allowed to proceed it could usher in new rounds of litigation as the plaintiffs clearly hope to establish a new class action suit. Before we even get to that point, we are likely in for rounds of appeals regarding whether the new litigation can proceed.
