RILA Urges Court to Reject Visa/Mastercard Swipe Fee Settlement

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) today urged a federal court to reject a proposed settlement in the long-running credit card swipe fee litigation against Visa and Mastercard. RILA explained that the agreement does not deliver promised reforms, but instead does little to lower the cost of accepting credit cards for most retailers, while barring them from challenging anti-competitive practices for years into the future. The association argues that the settlement preserves the existing monopolistic system that drives ever-higher swipe fees instead of creating necessary competitive pressure that would reduce costs.  

As RILA explained in its filing, “rather than changing the fundamentals of this monopolistic market, the proposed settlement enshrines them.  It locks in Visa’s and Mastercard’s dominant position and, via its release and waiver provisions, cuts off the legal rights of any other merchant or group to challenge the credit card cartel pricing model.” RILA urged the court to reject the proposed settlement agreement, which would only benefit Visa and Mastercard at the expense of both the merchant community and consumers. 

"Retailers have been seeking meaningful reform of the broken swipe fee system for decades," said Monica Welt, General Counsel of RILA. "This settlement falls far short because it leaves the fundamental drivers of high fees in place while restricting merchants' ability to pursue stronger solutions in the future. Retailers and consumers deserve a payments market that rewards competition, innovation, and lower costs, not one that preserves the monopolistic status quo." 

RILA’s objection to the settlement is not alone. It was joined in this filing with fellow retail trade association, the National Retail Federation; more than 1,000 other objectors filed similar documents with the court by the September 14 deadline, enumerating deficiencies and inadequacies of the proposed settlement. 

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Media Contact: press@rila.org

RILA is the U.S. trade association for leading retailers. We convene decision-makers, advocate for the industry, and promote operational excellence and innovation. Our aim is to elevate a dynamic industry by transforming the environment in which retailers operate.

RILA members include more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers, which together account for more than $2.7 trillion in annual sales, millions of American jobs, and hundreds of thousands of stores, manufacturing facilities, and distribution centers domestically and abroad.