Visa and Mastercard have agreed to pay a combined $199.5 million to settle a long-running class action filed by U.S. merchants who claimed the companies unfairly shifted the cost of fraudulent transactions onto businesses.
According to Reuters, the proposed settlement, filed Friday in federal court in Brooklyn, requires approval from Chief U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie. The agreement marks the latest chapter in a dispute that began in 2016, when merchants accused the card networks of violating antitrust laws by coordinating rule changes on chargebacks.
Those rules made businesses responsible for fraud-related losses if they had not upgraded their point-of-sale systems to accept chip-enabled cards, effectively forcing merchants to bear greater costs without lowering transaction fees.
Settlement details and company responses
Under the terms of the deal, Visa will pay $119.7 million, while Mastercard will pay $79.8 million. Two other defendants, Discover and American Express, had already settled for a combined $32.2 million earlier this year.
All four companies denied wrongdoing. In a statement, Mastercard said it welcomed the resolution and reiterated its commitment to using advanced technology “to protect Mastercard purchases at every step.” Visa and attorneys for the merchants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to court filings, plaintiffs’ lawyers described the settlement as “an excellent outcome,” noting that it represents about 13% of the merchants’ estimated damages and more than half of a conservative benchmark calculated by experts for Visa and Mastercard.
Broader legal context
The agreement is separate from a $5 billion settlement reached in 2019, when Visa and Mastercard resolved other merchant claims related to credit and debit card fee practices.
The latest case, B&R Supermarket Inc. et al. v. Visa Inc. et al., is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (No. 1:17-cv-02738-MKB-JAM).
![Terry Rozier pleads not guilty to sports betting charges By Reuters December 8, 20257:45 PM GMT-4Updated 3 hours ago Item 1 of 3 Terry Rozier, a guard with the NBA's Miami Heat, departs the Brooklyn Federal courthouse, after entering a plea in a criminal case alleging he shared non-public information with sports bettors ahead of games, in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., December 8, 2025. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz [1/3]Terry Rozier, a guard with the NBA's Miami Heat, departs the Brooklyn Federal courthouse, after entering a plea in a criminal case alleging he shared non-public information with sports bettors ahead of games, in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., December 8, 2025. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab December 8 - Facing federal wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges for his alleged role in an illegal sports gambling scheme, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier pleaded not guilty in federal court Monday in New York. Rozier, 31, was released on a $3 million bond. Rozier's co-defendant, Deniro Laster, also appeared in court and pleaded not guilty. He was released on $50,000 bond. He and Rozier were arrested in October in connection with a federal investigation into illicit gambling. Advertisement · Scroll to continue In an indictment from the U.S. Justice Department, Rozier was accused of tipping off Laster that he planned to leave a game for the Charlotte Hornets game early by feigning an injury. Laster and other conspirators then used that knowledge to "place and direct more than $200,000 in wagers predicting Rozier's ‘under' statistics (i.e., that Rozier would underperform)." The NBA had previously investigated suspicious prop bets placed on Rozier's unders in 2023 but did not find evidence he had violated league rules. The league placed Rozier on leave following the indictment and his arrest. An investigation into Rozier has been underway since a March 23, 2023, game when Rozier played for the Hornets. Sportsbooks reported unusual betting activities on prop bets -- all on the under -- in a game Rozier left after 10 minutes, claiming a foot injury. Advertisement · Scroll to continue The indictment alleges Rozier made it known to associates that he would depart the game early, and more than $200,000 was wagered on the under, with a share of the winnings given to Rozier. With the next status update on the case set for March 3, Rozier's lawyer, Jim Trusty, told reporters he plans to file a motion for dismissal Tuesday. Evan Corcoran, Laster's lawyer, said he would likely do the same for his client. Trusty went on to say that he will meet with the NBA in an arbitration hearing on Dec. 17, per The Athletic, to contest that Rozier's leave is unpaid. The guard was placed on unpaid leave by the league one week after he was arrested, which caused the National Basketball Players Association to file a grievance with the league. Rozier entered the league as a first-round draft pick of the Boston Celtics in 2015. He is playing this season on the final year of a four-year, $96.3 million deal he signed with the Hornets and has $160.4 million in career earnings, according to Spotrac.](https://arbitrationmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/terry-rozier-sports-150x150.avif)