For more than 20 years, merchants have challenged Visa and Mastercard in court over their anticompetitive swipe fee practices – and our industry has led the way. Unfortunately, a recent proposed settlement opposed by EMA, NACS and other trade associations representing retailers has been filed by the lawyers in the case. The settlement fails to provide adequate relief and would cut-off the rights of retailers to seek better terms.
While the proposed settlement offers a temporary reduction in swipe fees, it comes at a steep cost: merchants would be required to release significant legal claims while receiving limited relief with huge loopholes that do not address the underlying rules driving higher payment costs.
This settlement fails to provide the meaningful changes needed to create a fairer, more competitive payments marketplace. Instead, it locks in the bad practices by Visa and Mastercard that caused swipe fee problems in the first place. And the settlement would leave retailers without legal options to challenge these practices moving forward.
EMA and NACS are coordinating a sign-on letter urging the court to reject the proposed settlement, and we need strong participation from our industry. Please add your company’s name to the coalition letter by close-of-business September 1, 2026. We need as many organizations and businesses in our industry as possible to join us on this letter. The more industry leaders stand together, the stronger our message will be that this settlement is not in the best interest of merchants and consumers.
Thank you for standing up for our industry and fighting for a fairer payments system.
