Mastercard Compensation for 46 Million UK Shoppers

Former Financial Ombudsman, Walter Merricks has been fighting a “Class Action” legal battle for 8 years with Mastercard over high/uncompetitive fees charged to businesses accepting Mastercard payments from UK shoppers.

You may or may not be aware that businesses in the UK must have a “Merchant Account” and are charged fees when they accept a credit or debit card payment from you.  This is usually in the form of a fixed monthly, merchant account fee and then a % of the transaction value on top.

European Commission

In 2007, the European Commission ruled against Mastercard for breaking competition laws for “multilateral interchange fees” from 1992.

The class action was started by Mr Merricks to secure compensation for British consumer shoppers in:

• England, Wales and Northern Ireland between June 1997 and June 2008.
• Scotland from May 1992 to June 2008.

The compensation being claimed was for a general principal that all UK shoppers would have paid inflated prices for goods and services due to the fact that most businesses would have increased their prices to allow for higher transaction charges.  In short, the British consumer was paying more than they should have done.

Competition Appeal Tribunal

Yesterday, a final decision was made by the Competition Appeal Tribunal with a settlement of £200m of which at least a minimum of £100m is being ringfenced to pay compensation to up to 46 million UK based consumers.  To be part of the “Class”, you do not need to have even had a Mastercard as increased prices affected us all whether we bought things with cards, cash or cheque but

• You must have lived in the UK for a minimum 3 consecutive months between 22 May 1992 and 21 June 2008.
• You must have been aged 16 or older at the time.
• You must have bought goods and services from UK businesses, which let’s face it, we all do everyday.
• You must still have been living in the UK on 6 Spetember 2016.

How Much Compensation Could I Receive?

With £100m ringfenced, it could be based upon the following estimates:

• The agreement assumes that 5% of the population will make a claim, this would mean compensation of £45 each.
• If 10% of the population claimm this may mean compensation of £22.50 each.
• If less than 5% of the population makes a claim, compensation is capped at £70 each.

When and Where to Apply for Compensation?

• A compensation website has been set up https://mastercardconsumerclaim.co.uk/
• There is currently no compensation application form but
• You can register your interest and be kept up to date with progress for compensation applications and payments.
• Compensation is expected to be paid out by the end of 2025.

Can Mastercard Afford This?

• For the trading year ending 31/03/2025 it has been reported that Mastercard’s net income after expenses was $13.14 billion.
• For the previous year to 31/03/2024, Mastercard had a turnover of $28.2 billion and £12.9 billion after expenses.
• It is also reported that with Mastercard’s profit margin is 46%, they continue to make profits in the order of $13 billion per annum after expenses.
• Even allowing for extraordinary expenses, this means they can easiliy absorb £200 million.

Register your interest:  https://mastercardconsumerclaim.co.uk/Request

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