Interchange continues to be the topic of the day! While states continue to attempt to challenge interchange fees with restrictive laws (see our ALERT of June 8, 2026), on Tuesday U.S. District Judge Brian M. Cogan in Brooklyn, New York, said a proposed settlement covering Visa, Mastercard and more than 12 million merchants was “fair, reasonable, and adequate,” and that he was likely to eventually grant final approval. See In re Payment Card Interchange Fee And Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, No. 1:05-MD-1720 (E.D.N.Y., June 9, 2026).
In this litigation, numerous merchants accused Visa, Mastercard and banks of conspiring to violate U.S. antitrust laws, including through the card networks’ collection of “swipe fees.” Judge Cogan’s ruling comes nearly two years after an earlier judge rejected a proposed $30 billion settlement as “too small”. In separate statements, the National Retail Federation and the National Association of Convenience Stores have said that the revised settlement failed to address a “broken” credit card market, and the NACS’ General Counsel Doug Kantor predicted “many more objections” will be filed.
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