What happened
- Specific facts/numbers: Nearly 1,000 U.S. merchants objected to the proposed Visa-Mastercard swipe-fee settlement; the Merchant Payments Coalition said the proposal would cut swipe fees by 10 basis points for five years while barring lawsuits for eight years, and described average swipe fees in 2025 as 2.36%.
- Institutions involved: The dispute involves Visa, Mastercard, U.S. merchants represented publicly by the Merchant Payments Coalition, and the federal court overseeing In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, with Judge Brian Cogan identified in related court proceedings.
- Regulatory/technical context: The case stems from a 2005 antitrust lawsuit alleging Visa and Mastercard centrally set interchange pricing through bank partners. MPC said prior versions were overturned or rejected in 2016 and 2024, and argues the current proposal still leaves core issues such as network pricing structure and the 'honor all cards' rule largely intact.
- What to watch next: Watch for the court’s consideration of merchant objections and any final-approval decision on the proposed settlement; beyond that, no additional next milestone was identified in the read material.
Why it matters
If the settlement is rejected, merchants could keep pressing for broader changes to card-network rules and interchange pricing rather than accepting temporary fee relief.
HKMA Relevance
Indirect: The case is U.S.-focused, but it highlights ongoing scrutiny of card-network pricing power and merchant acceptance rules that are relevant to payment-system policy discussions in Hong Kong.