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Mastercard Faces £19bn UK Class Action Claim
Mastercard Faces £19bn UK Class Action Claim
This is a duplicate of the Blog Entry made on: 6th July 2016 15:42
This is a duplicate of the Blog Entry made on: 6th July 2016 15:42
UK card users may be in line for compensation amid claims "illegal" card fees meant people paid more for goods and services.
Mastercard is facing a £19bn damages claim - the biggest in UK legal history - for allegedly imposing "anti-competitive" charges on consumers. As many as 40 million people could be in line for compensation from the firm, according to lawyers, with some payouts in the hundreds of pounds. The class action case suggests MasterCard infringed EU law by imposing charges, known as "interchange" fees, on the use of MasterCard debit and credit cards. It claims Mastercard's fees were "illegal" and set at an "anti-competitive, high level". In a statement, MasterCard said it "firmly disagrees with the basis of this legal claim". The company added: "MasterCard is committed to providing ever more convenient, safe and secure payments to all our customers, including consumers, retailers, governments and banks." Walter Merricks, the consumer representative fronting the case, believed UK consumers, including cash purchasers - not just MasterCard holders - have lost money as a result.
He said these fees were a significant cost for retailers, a cost that was then passed on through increased prices of goods and services. He told Sky News: "I want consumers to know that it is possible to take on a large organisation that has behaved badly. "The prices of everything we all bought from 1992 to 2008 were higher than they should have been as a result of the unlawful conduct of MasterCard.....Read more here
Mastercard is facing a £19bn damages claim - the biggest in UK legal history - for allegedly imposing "anti-competitive" charges on consumers. As many as 40 million people could be in line for compensation from the firm, according to lawyers, with some payouts in the hundreds of pounds. The class action case suggests MasterCard infringed EU law by imposing charges, known as "interchange" fees, on the use of MasterCard debit and credit cards. It claims Mastercard's fees were "illegal" and set at an "anti-competitive, high level". In a statement, MasterCard said it "firmly disagrees with the basis of this legal claim". The company added: "MasterCard is committed to providing ever more convenient, safe and secure payments to all our customers, including consumers, retailers, governments and banks." Walter Merricks, the consumer representative fronting the case, believed UK consumers, including cash purchasers - not just MasterCard holders - have lost money as a result.
He said these fees were a significant cost for retailers, a cost that was then passed on through increased prices of goods and services. He told Sky News: "I want consumers to know that it is possible to take on a large organisation that has behaved badly. "The prices of everything we all bought from 1992 to 2008 were higher than they should have been as a result of the unlawful conduct of MasterCard.....Read more here