Millions in UK Could Get a Payout as Mastercard Breaches Law

Damages and interest claim against Mastercard totals £14.098billion.

The claim is being put forward on behalf of roughly 46.2million consumers in the UK who have been paying a lot more for items than they should have – even those who don’t have a Mastercard!

What’s the claim against Mastercard?

Almost 12 years ago, Mastercard was told by the European Commission that they had been breaking the competition law “by imposing excessive card transaction charges, damaging consumers over a prolonged period”, says Walter Merricks, former financial ombudsman who is pursuing the claim.

He states that “as a result we all had to pay higher prices in the shops than we should have done – while Mastercard have pocketed the profits”. Their actions have cost people in the UK just over £14billion due to their fees.

Mastercard strongly denied these accusations back then, and they still do, but nothing was done to compensate consumers.

Thanks to the claim being dug up again for review by the Court of Appeal this week and Merricks trying his hardest to get UK consumers their deserved compensation, serious action could well be taken against the payment provider.

How is the case being revived?

While this claim is a large one for Mr Merricks to make, it could still be possible due to an important reform of procedures that occurred in 2015.

In the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), it was announced that an ‘opt-out’ collective redress procedure was being introduced for competition law claims.

Since this has been introduced, the claim against Mastercard is one of the first mass-consumer claims to happen in the UK.

Who can receive a payout and how much is it?

Depending on whether or not the claim is successful:

46.2 million people could receive a payout – this includes anyone over 16-years-old from the UK who were residents there between 1992 and 2008 for three months or more.

Even if you have never owned a Mastercard, you could still have been affected by their fees!

People could receive a maximum payout of around £300, which should not be ignored.

When could people receive a payout?

People will only receive a payout if the claim against Mastercard is successful, which is probably going to be quite the battle. It could take months, even a few years, for people to receive their compensation – but only if the case is successful.

Merricks strongly feels that Mastercard should just come out and admit to the damage they’ve done and that they should “apologise to the British public” and “agree to pay the compensation they owe.”

For those who feel they could have been affected by Mastercard’s heavy fees, you will unfortunately have to hang on in there to see whether the claim will be successful or not. So watch this space!