šŸš«šŸ’³ Credit Card Giants Got Declined?

ā€¦and what it means for card accepting merchants ā€“ the $5.5 Billion Visa Mastercard Settlement, revisited.

Good afternoon. After thirteen-plus years of litigation on allegations of colluding on those pesky interchange fees, Visa and Mastercard are paying back almost $6 Billion back to business owners who accepted customer payments via their cards. If you were in business from the invention of Facebook (2004) to the college admissions scandal (2019), now is your chance to reclaim your businessā€™s piece of this massive settlement based on your eligibility. Letā€™s dig in.

In Todayā€™s Newsletter:

šŸ’³ Big Credit got declined: Turns out they have a ~$6B balanceā€¦  
šŸ“šļø What else weā€™re checking out: Newsletter recs to round out the week.
šŸ—ƒļø Case Docket: The settlements continue: Visa Mastercard, Verizon Admin Fee, Chicken & Pork price fixing are all live ā€“ file now before their gone! 
šŸ—žļø What else? Whatā€™s locked ā€˜n loaded and whatā€™s ripening on the vine.  

SETTLEMENT SPOTLIGHT
šŸ’³ļø Visa & Mastercard Got Caught Charging You Moreā€¦

What we imagine Big Creditā€™s boardroom meetings looked likeā€¦
Via makeagif.com

What Happened?
Ever feel like you are just seeing MORE and MORE fees than ever? Youā€™re not alone. Luckily for us, after thirteen rounds in the legal litigation ring, Visa and Mastercard saw their own cards get declined as they will pay $5.54 Billion to put to bed allegations that they forced business merchants (i.e., anyone who accepted their branded credit or debit cards) to pay excessive interchange fees, violating antitrust laws. Letā€™s look at what that means for you.

What does that meanā€¦in english, please?
It means that these credit card behemoths (independently and together, along with their member banks) 'allegedly' attempted to squeeze even more profits out of your hardworking business by working together (i.e., against capitalismā€¦) to increase the interchange fees your company paid themā€¦ tsk-tsk.

Not a business owner yet? Make someoneā€™s day and send this off to those bold folks in your life that own businesses accepting credit cards ā€“ your favorite restaurant, your parents who run a small plumbing or HVAC empire, that e-commerce clothing store that fits just right, the mobile van that washes your dog, or even that cool couple that you used to house-sit for. Do them a HUGE favor and forward them this email ā€“ theyā€™ll thank you later. Now letā€™s see who fits the bill:

Class Member Criteria
šŸ’³ Your biz accepted Visa or Mastercard branded debit or credit card swipes.
šŸ‡ŗšŸ‡ø You operated in the U.S. of A between January 1, 2004 - January 25, 2019
šŸ’­ Psst. you donā€™t need to still be in business (e.g., bankrupt, sold, closed, etc.)
āŒ Some Bad News: Franchises ARENā€™T included in this settlement but donā€™t fret, theyā€™re working on their own separate and ongoing lawsuit.

What are interchange fees again?
For those of you who read that merchant agreement over a decade ago and donā€™t quite recall what that means, hereā€™s a refresher. These interchange fees are the largest part of the merchant processing fee and are typically 1-2% of every card transaction, meaning they add up over the years. 

How much are we talking?
Your babyā€™s (we mean businessā€™s) actual payout will be determined by your proportional (ā€œpro rataā€) share of total excessive fees paid. With a case this historic, weā€™re expecting some pretty significant merchant recoveries. So make sure to file if you qualify for this $5.54 billion settlement! 

āš ļø Reminder
Thereā€™s a theme hereā€¦ if you do not qualify (like Iā€™m still in my white-walled cell, the ā€˜cubicleā€™, working for the manā€¦), DONā€™T submit a claim. Remember, this is the legal system weā€™re dealing with after all (e.g., perjury existsā€¦). Plus, donā€™t ruin it for the rest of us. No worries, weā€™ll hit you on the next one!

Now What? 
Take less than 5 minutes to file your claim with us! The deadline to file your claim is May 31, 2024. Hit the button below to file with CACā€™s 1-step claim filing agreement or follow the link to learn moreā€¦ learn more.

Do I have to file with CAC? No, see the fine print at the bottom šŸ‘‡ļø 

WEā€™VE GOT RECS
šŸ“šļø What Else Weā€™re Checking Out  

These donā€™t get us paid, weā€™re just enjoying and recommending them to you.

beehiiv BlogTips, tricks, and suggestions to help creators use beehiiv.
Taylor's OfferShop your favorite brands at 75% off!
Creator SpotlightYour guide to building an audience with social media and newsletters. Creator deep-dives every Friday.

CASE DOCKET
šŸ—žļø What Else is Going On?

Interested in checking out more cases? Click on any of these below or check out our website for our full list of open settlements.

ROCKING ā€˜N ROLLING (Open and filing claims!)
BUSINESS FILINGS: 
šŸ’³ Visa & Mastercard ($5.54B settlement) Your biz may have paid excessive fees for accepting Visa or Mastercard swipesā€¦

PERSONAL FILINGS:  
šŸ“µ Verizon Wireless ($100M settlement) Verizon may have been charging customers extra ā€œadmin feesā€ every monthā€¦
šŸ— Buy Raw Chicken? ($181M settlement) You may have been overcharged by some of the biggest names in the chicken gameā€¦
šŸ„“ Buy Raw Pork? ($75M settlement) Big Pork may have overcharged you for years by for those slices of crispy baconā€¦

NOT QUITE RIPE FOR THE PICKINā€™ (Not open for claims, yet) 
PERSONAL FILINGS: 
šŸ›©ļø Fly Recently? ($60M-so farā€¦) American, Delta, Southwest and United may have overcharged you for flights over the years...
šŸ” Search in Incognito? (~$5B settlement) Google may have tracked yours (+ Mā€™s of other Americans) data while you were browsing privately...

šŸ„” THURSDAY TAKEAWAYS
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FYI, these recommendations do get us paidā€¦ thanks for supporting us by checking them out. We appreciate you šŸ™.

Tools We Use Ourselves:
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āœ”ļø PRE-WEEKEND CHECKLIST
Do these to go forth an prosper šŸ–– 

šŸ“ 1) File your Visa Mastercard Claim ā€“ deadline is May 31st!
šŸ’Œ 2) Share this newsletter w/ friends, family, or even mortal enemies ā€“ see the referral link below!
šŸ“§ 3) Have direct feedback? Reply directly to this email to let us know
šŸ§ 4) Questions? Send them our way to answer in this very newsletter.
ā˜•ļø 5) Nothing fuels a newsletter like lots and lots coffeeā€¦if you wanna spread the love, buy us a coffee here!

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ā€“ā€“ā€“ā€“ šŸ“ FINE PRINT šŸ–Ø ā€“ā€“ā€“ā€“

Weā€™re all trying our best to be smart people and make responsible choices here. Nothing in this newsletter is legal or financial advice and content is created for informational and educational purposes only. If you are looking for legal and/or financial advice, help yourself out and hire a professional. We appreciate you checking out our newsletter and look forward to bringing more exciting (and dollar filled) settlement opportunities to your inbox! šŸ¤žšŸ¤žšŸ¤ž

DISCLAIMER: You do not have to use a third party like CAC and can always file a claim on your own. If you are a settlement class member, you must complete and submit a valid Claim Form in order to receive a payment. You may request a Claim Form by calling the Settlement Administrator or visiting their website for that particular case. For this case, that is www.paymentcardsettlement.com. Happy filing!

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