Fortress-backed Elm Claims funds £700 million Visa and Mastercard class action

Elm Claims, a litigation funder owned by funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group, is financing a proposed £700 million class action against Visa and Mastercard over interchange fees charged to UK businesses accepting payments from European customers.

The proceedings, filed in the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal on October 8, 2026, seek compensation on behalf of approximately 126,000 businesses allegedly overcharged for processing online and other remote payments made with cards issued in the European Economic Area (EEA).

Ann Pope, a former senior director at the UK's Competition and Markets Authority, is leading the proposed opt-out proceedings through Ann Pope Collective Proceedings Limited. She is represented by Geradin Partners, with Colin West KC and Ali Al-Karim of Brick Court Chambers, Ellen Tims of Essex Court Chambers and Sym Hunt-Brady of 4 Pump Court acting as counsel.

The claims allege that Visa and Mastercard substantially increased interchange fees after EU caps ceased to apply following Brexit. Visa raised its fees in October 2021, with Mastercard following in April 2022, increasing charges on consumer debit card transactions from 0.2% to 1.15% and credit card transactions from 0.3% to 1.5%. The proposed class estimates that the increases have cost UK businesses between £150 million and £200 million annually.

The litigation builds on earlier Competition Appeal Tribunal findings that certain interchange fee arrangements restricted competition. The new proceedings specifically challenge the post-Brexit increases, arguing that the removal of EU caps did not justify the higher charges because the underlying costs of processing transactions remained substantially unchanged.

Mastercard has rejected the allegations and said it will vigorously defend the claim, describing it as an example of opportunistic funder-backed litigation and pointing to proposed UK reforms of the opt-out collective actions regime.

Fortress Investment Group previously owned Vannin Capital, a major litigation funder, before its litigation finance operations were integrated into the wider Fortress business.

The claims remain subject to certification by the Competition Appeal Tribunal. If approved, eligible UK businesses would automatically be included unless they elect to opt out.