$7.2B settlement over card fees receives initial approval

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NEW YORK A federal judge gave preliminary approval Friday to a $7.2 billion settlement between major credit card companies and retailers over alleged fee-fixing, parties involved in the case said.

Visa (V), MasterCard (MA) and other card companies agreed in July to settle a lawsuit brought by retailers that claimed card issuers conspired to fix the fees they charge stores for accepting credit cards.

The National Retail Federation, representing more than 9,000 retailers across the country, had argued that a provision barring retailers from filing lawsuits over swipe fees was too broad.

Retailers had also argued that the $7.2 billion was far less than what retailers deserved and might have won at trial. The preliminary approval was granted Friday by Judge John Gleeson of Brooklyn federal court, both sides in the case said.

Visa called the settlement a "fair and reasonable compromise." MasterCard also said it was pleased and said a provision in the settlement allowing retailers to charge checkout fees for credit-card customers was supported by millions of retailers.

The retail federation repeated its opposition.

"It's a morass of legal flaws, and rather than bringing about reform it would only entrench the anticompetitive behavior of the card companies while putting them beyond the reach of the law," said Mallory Duncan, a federation lawyer.

The federation said it was exploring legal options. Gleeson still must grant final approval to the settlement. MasterCard said it hoped that would happen in the coming months.

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Exactly. But the games played by the credit card industry with business are relatively small-scale, compared to the massive profits card companies enjoy from bilking the American consumer with excessive fees and unreasonable penalties.

In today's climate of recession and indebtedness, late or missed payments have become a profit center, of themselves. Such bank fees and penalty games are designed to trap consumers and place them at disadvantage with acres of fine print. Former Sen. Joe Biden (D, Del) happens to be one of the the credit card industry's most famous patrons-- along with Hillary Clinton.

[alphaa10000]

Exactly. But the games played by the credit card industry with business are relatively small-scale, compared to the massive profits card companies enjoy from bilking the American consumer with excessive fees and unreasonable penalties.

In today's climate of recession and indebtedness, late or missed payments have become a profit center, of themselves. Such bank fees and penalty games are designed to trap consumers and place them at disadvantage with acres of fine print. Former Sen. Joe Biden (D, Del) happens to be one of the the credit card industry's most famous patrons-- along with Hillary Clinton.

[hypnotoad72]

When the credit card company calls it "fair and reasonable compromise", then you know it isn't. The same entity harms companies by imposing 2% fees on every transaction, which the company using credit card service has to pay for.

Never mind that every hidden cost and surcharge hasn't gone into security - credit cards, to this day, still have unencrypted magnetic strips...

All of this is yet another supply-side swindle, and when the banks put on the smiling smirk, that means we all know who the losers are.