Visa, Mastercard’s Second Try at $5B Plus Antitrust Deal OK’d

Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. won preliminary approval Jan. 28 of their second attempt at settling antitrust allegations of a class of over 12 million U.S. merchants.

The credit card companies will pay between $5.56 and $6.26 billion under the deal. Class counsel believes it is the largest cash settlement in antitrust class action history.

The new settlement resolves the conflict of interest issues the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found with the initial deal, Judge Margo K. Brodie wrote for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

The merchants allege the ...