Visa Mastercard ATM Surcharge Settlement: $197.5M

Individuals or entities that paid unreimbursed ATM access fees directly to any of the involved banks for foreign ATM transactions using a U.S.-issued ATM card are eligible for settlement benefits.

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A class action lawsuit alleging Visa and Mastercard violated federal antitrust laws by adopting restraints that inflated ATM surcharges (ATM access fees) that some people and business paid, has been settlement.

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of ATM cardholders who used a bank ATM owned by an entity (or bank) different from the entity (or bank) that issued their ATM card and who paid an ATM surcharge. The lawsuit says the Visa and Mastercard violated federal antitrust laws by participating in an unlawful agreement that allegedly had the effect of increasing the amount of the ATM surcharges. Both Visa and Mastercard deny these allegations. The Court has not decided who is right.

There are three related lawsuits that were filed in October 2011. They each involve different Classes with similar claims against Visa and Mastercard and are proceeding at the same time. You may receive notices about these other cases.

This case is known as Mackmin v. Visa Inc. and involves individuals and entities who were charged unreimbursed access fees to withdraw cash at bank-operated ATMs. You may have received a previous notice about the settlements in this case that were with JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America. The previous settlements were approved on August 22, 2022, and totaled $67 million. You may have filed a claim and/or received a payment from these previous settlements.

Another related case is known as Burke v. Visa Inc. and involves people who were charged an unreimbursed access fee to withdraw cash at an independent (non-bank) ATM. The Court recently approved this lawsuit to proceed as a class action against Visa and Mastercard.

The last related case is known as National ATM Council v. Visa Inc. and involves entities or businesses that own and/or operate independent ATMs.

You may be included in more than one Class, so it is important to read the Notice for this case and any other notices you receive carefully, so you can understand your rights and options. The choices you make to act on your rights in this case (Mackmin v. Visa) will not affect your rights in the other related lawsuits.

Under the terms of the Visa Mastercard ATM Access Fee class action settlement, Visa and Mastercard will collectively pay approximately $197,500,000—Visa ($104,675,000) and Mastercard ($92,825,000)—into a Settlement Fund. After deductions for attorneys’ fees, litigation costs, and other expenses, the Fund will be distributed to Settlement Class Members who submit valid claims.

Each claim will be eligible to receive a pro rata share of the Net Settlement Fund based on the number of valid claims. Because the amount of each payment depends on the number of approved claims, nobody can know in advance how much the payment will be.



If you filed a claim and received a payment in the previous settlements, you will automatically be eligible to get a payment from this settlement with Visa and Mastercard based on the Claim Form you previously submitted. If you paid additional ATM surcharges after submitting a claim in the previous settlements, and wish to claim those additional transactions, you will need to submit another Claim Form.

If you did not previously file a valid claim, you must submit a valid claim to receive a payment in this Settlement.

If you take no action, you give up your legal right to continue to sue Visa and Mastercard for the claims related to this case. If you filed a claim and received a payment in the previous settlements, you will be automatically eligible to get a payment based on the Claim Form you previously submitted. If you did not previously file a valid claim and do not submit a claim now, you will not get any money from this Settlement.