One thing is certain in the $6.24 billion settlement to provide payments to merchants who accepted Visa and Mastercard at any time from January 1, 2004 to January 25, 2019: if you do not file a claim, you will get no money.

This class action lawsuit is principally about the interchange fees attributable to merchants that accepted Visa or Mastercard credit or debit cards between January 1, 2004 and January 25, 2019, and Visa’s and Mastercard’s rules for merchants that have accepted those cards.

When a cardholder makes a purchase with a credit or debit card, there is an interchange fee attributable to those transactions, which is usually around 1% to 2% of the purchase price.

Interchange fees typically account for the greatest part of the fees paid by merchants for accepting Visa and Mastercard cards. Visa and Mastercard set interchange fee rates for different kinds of transactions and publish them on their websites, usually twice a year.

In a class action, people or businesses sue not only for themselves, but also on behalf of other people or businesses with similar legal claims and interests. Together all of these people or businesses with similar claims and interests form a class, and are class members.

In the Visa and Mastercard class action suit, the Court has not decided which side was right or wrong or if any laws were violated. Instead, both sides agreed to settle the case and avoid the cost and risk of trial and appeals that would follow a trial. In this case, the settlement is the product of extensive negotiations, including mediation before two experienced mediators, chosen by the parties.

Settling this case allows class members to receive payments. You are a member of the class action and entitled to receive payment that is proportionate to the volume of interchange fees you paid between January 1, 2004 and January 25, 2019, but only if you file a claim.

As of today, the Court has still set no deadline for filing, but one is surely on the horizon. If you have taken no action to guarantee your participation in this class action suit, Commonwealth Consulting Group cannot file a claim for you, but our partners at Financial Recovery Strategies (FRS) can. What CCG can do, especially if you’ve been our client for quite a while, is to help you assemble all of the information you need to provide to FRS in order to file your claim.

Meet our partner, Financial Recovery Strategies
Although CCG is not permitted to file your claim on your behalf, you may retain the services of our partner, Financial Recovery Strategies (FRS) to help manage your claim and assist in getting back the money you overpaid. FRS is a class action recovery and cost savings firm that specializes in, among other services, class action settlement claims recovery; they are not a court-appointed claims administrator or class counsel. As such, FRS is paid on an agreed-upon contingent-fee basis only upon and from the recoveries they obtain.

How do I retain FRS to help manage my claim?
If you would like to engage Financial Recovery Services, please visit their dedicated portal by CLICKING HERE FOR THE ONLINE AGREEMENT. On that web portal, you may retain FRS by first completing the required fields and submitting the form. This will generate an email with an agreement and an authorization to file your claim. Both of these documents may be signed electronically. FRS will then work with Commonwealth Consulting Group to submit the required documents and information to obtain your recovery.

Note: After you click “Submit” on your online form, you will receive an email from Harris Love, EVP at FRS within moments. If you do not receive the email, please check your SPAM or Junk Mail folder and it should be there to finalize the process.

Do I have to use FRS to file my claim?
No. Class members have the right to file on their own. You should have received an official claim notice in the mail with details about how to register for your settlement. If you didn’t receive your notice, or if you moved your business to a new location, you may request a new notice by submitting a form HERE.

Questions?
This should pretty much sum it up for you, but if you’d like to go straight to the source for additional information, please use the links below.

Helpful Links:

Settlement Website
Official FAQ
Official Notice

Note: No claim forms are available at this time, and no claim filing deadline has been set. Class members have the right to file on their own. No-cost assistance will be available from the Class Administrator and Class Counsel during the claims-filing period. As set forth in FRS’s Class Action Summary, FRS believes that it provides services that could increase a class member’s potential recovery and that are unlikely to be provided by the Class Administrator or Class Counsel. For additional information, class members can visit the court-approved website at www.PaymentCardSettlement.com, or contact Class Counsel or the Class Administrator.