Visa and Mastercard Face £5 Billion UK Group Claim

Law firms Harcus Parker and Hausfeld have applied to the Competition Appeal Tribunal to launch a group claim against Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc., alleging the companies stifled competition and charged excessive multilateral interchange fees to UK businesses since October 2020.

The potential lawsuit, estimated to be worth £5 billion, seeks to recover overcharged fees and interest from the past six years. If successful, approximately 1 million UK businesses and charities with revenues under £100 million would be automatically included in the compensation, while larger firms would need to opt in. The litigation is led by businessman Stephen Allen and funded by Bench Walk Advisors.

Mastercard dismissed the claim as speculative and part of a trend of opportunistic funder-backed litigation, arguing that interchange fees support the UK payments ecosystem. Visa maintained that such fees are a critical component for maintaining a secure digital payments ecosystem that benefits consumers, merchants, and banks.