On June 15, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit approved a second partial distribution from the $5.5 billion Payment Card Interchange Fee Class Action Settlement Fund. This settlement applies to merchants that accepted Visa and Mastercard branded cards in the United States at any time from January 1, 2004, to January 25, 2019. An initial partial distribution approved in October 2025 distributed $418.9 million to approximately 599,000 merchants, leaving over $5 billion yet to be distributed.
The second partial distribution, which is expected to occur in September 2026, will go to two groups of merchants whose claims have now been cleared of issues. The first group includes more than 75,000 merchants whose only outstanding issue was a name variance; they will receive more than $125 million. The second group includes 8,400 merchants whose claims have been cleared following continued data review; they will receive more than $56 million.
According to a July 2026 update issued by Epiq, the court appointed administrator, 40,208 claims are being reviewed by a court appointed special master. About 13,000 of the merchant tax id numbers are in conflict because multiple parties are claiming they have authority to act on behalf of the same tax id. For another 12,414 claims, sales data submitted by merchants is being reviewed.
In May 2026, there were new developments regarding "Old Jericho Plaintiffs", a legal dispute that has complicated the disbursement of settlement funds. The key issue is whether upstream oil companies – such as Shell and Texaco – or the fuel retailers (branded operators) that sell fuel to the end consumer are members of the class. In May 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment that the Old Jericho Plaintiffs, who are branded operators, were class members and that additional claims they subsequently brought were extinguished by the settlement. The Old Jericho Plaintiffs subsequently filed a petition for a rehearing before the full court, but the petition was denied. It is not known if they will attempt further appeals.
Epiq is working with plaintiff representatives to develop timelines for future distributions and will provide another update in October. Merchants can check the status of their claims and any payments issued by visiting the Official Court Authorized Settlement Website and logging in to the Merchant Portal.
