Visa, Mastercard to pay $167.5 million to settle ATM fee lawsuit

Visa and Mastercard have agreed to pay a combined $167.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging the companies conspired to keep ATM access fees artificially high. The proposed settlement, filed Thursday in a Washington federal court, is subject to judicial approval.

Under the agreement, Visa will contribute $88.8 million and Mastercard $78.7 million to a fund that will reimburse potentially millions of ATM users who paid unreimbursed access fees at independent, non-bank ATMs since October 2007.

The lawsuit, one of three related cases in the D.C. federal court, was originally filed in 2011. Plaintiffs claimed that Visa and Mastercard rules blocked independent ATM operators from offering lower prices. Both companies have denied any wrongdoing.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs described the settlement as “an excellent result in light of the risks of continued prosecution” and plan to request up to 30% of the fund, approximately $50 million, in legal fees.

A third lawsuit by independent ATM operators remains pending in the same court. Visa also faces other antitrust lawsuits, including one from the U.S. Justice Department accusing it of illegally monopolizing the debit card market.