£7.5 BILLION LEGAL ACTION LAUNCHES ON BEHALF OF BUSINESSES OVERCHARGED BECAUSE OF VISA AND MASTERCARD

Podcast Radio Business Interviews

Jeremy Robinson & Tom Ross, from Harcus Parker Solicitors talk to Clayton M. Coke of Podcast Radio Business to discuss the £7.5 Multi-billion pound legal action launched on behalf of businesses overcharged because of Mastercard and Visa.

A class action aiming to recoup billions in fees that small and large businesses incurred after being overcharged on fees for transactions because of Mastercard and Visa’s rules is being launched on TUESDAY 21st FEBRUARY2023 on behalf of hundreds of thousands of UK businesses.

It is expected to be the one of the biggest compensation claim in UK legal history - the fee issue impacts virtually every business which accepts Visa or Mastercard payments. The action claims that ‘anti-competitive’ and ‘unlawful’ fees have been charged on transactions since 2017 and are still being charged now.

Law firm Harcus Parker is representing the proposed class representatives, Credit and Debit Card Claims I and II Limited, which are bringing the case on behalf of hundreds of thousands of businesses that have been – and continue to be – charged these fees.

They say that after damning judgments from both the UK Supreme Court and the EU Court of Justice these fees should be abolished completely. Harcus Parker is asking the court to give businesses their money back, plus interest, as part of a broader campaignagainst unlawful fees and what they call ‘stealth taxes’ in the future.

Mastercard and Visa have both previously settled several claims for unlawful interchange fees charged to various UK businesses. Recent successful claimants include major supermarkets, including Morrisons earlier this year. Harcus Parker is bringing this claimin the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) because the Tribunal has special rules that allow a large number of claimants to bring their cases together as a class, saving each of them time and money.