Bench Walk backs companion claim against Mastercard and Visa

Bench Walk is backing a claim against Visa and Mastercard to be filed by Harcus Parker at the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) on behalf businesses that accept consumer credit and debit cards, alleging anti-competitive behaviour in connection with the Multilateral Interchange Fees (MIFs) charged by Visa and Mastercard.

This case, and its parallel case on commercial and interregional cards which has already been filed, alleges that Mastercard and Visa have breached competition law. The new claim concerns business who accept consumer credit and debit cards, while the companion claim concerns businesses that accept commercial and interregional cards.

Jeremy Robinson, Competition Law and Regulation Partner at Harcus Parker, said:

“Over the course of lengthy investigations in Europe going back many years and, more recently, litigation in the UK, multilateral interchange fees levied by Mastercard and Visa have been found to be anti-competitive, and therefore unlawful. Businesses have been affected by these fees to the tune of billions of pounds and deserve to be properly compensated.”