Credit Card Antitrust Lawsuit Settlement Confirmed

December 07, 2007 -- (ALBUQUERQUE) -- New Mexico Attorney General Gary King’s office today confirmed a $336 million settlement, pending final federal court approval, in a lawsuit against several major credit card companies and their member banks. The antitrust lawsuit is about the price cardholders of Visa, MasterCard, or Diners Club-branded payment cards were charged to make transactions in a foreign currency, or with a foreign merchant.

In the matter, In re Foreign Currency Conversion Fee Antitrust Litigation (MDL 1409), the Plaintiffs challenged how the prices were set and disclosed, claiming the Defendants conspired to set and conceal fees and inflated their base exchange rates before applying these fees.

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A person (or company) is eligible to participate in the settlement if they used a Visa, MasterCard and/or Diners Club credit, charge and or debit/ATM card to make a foreign transaction, including purchases and ATM withdrawals, from February 1, 1996 to November 8, 2006.

Eligible cardholders may elect to submit one of three refund options:

1. Easy Refund of $25
2. Total Estimation Refund
3. Annual Estimation Refund

All claim forms may be submitted online at: www.ccfsettlement.com or by mail at:
U.S. District Court Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 290, Philadelphia, PA 19105-0290. All claim information – whether provided online or by mail – is handled in a secure system.

The claims administrator, appointed by the Court, has taken steps to ensure that all claimant information is secure and is not accessible online. The information provided by claimants will be used only for the purpose of the claim process. Information is also available from the claims administrator’s toll-free number, 1-800-945-9890. This information will also be available on the Attorney General’s Office website at: http://nmag.gov/

Source: New Mexico Attorney General