A threatened visa mastercard £5bn UK lawsuit over card payment fees has been filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal. Law firms Harcus Parker and Hausfeld lodged the group claim application, which sources close to the action value at about £5bn.

What the claim covers

The action seeks damages for companies said to have paid too much on customer card payments since October 2020, seeking to claw back fees charged over the past six years together with interest.

At its centre are multilateral interchange fees: rates set by Visa and Mastercard and paid by businesses through their banks on each card payment. The firms argue weak competition left businesses paying higher fees on debit, credit and prepaid cards. Those close to the claim put its value at roughly £5bn, counting businesses said to have been overcharged between 2020 and 2026.

Who would be included

If the claim succeeds, an estimated 1m UK-based businesses, organisations and charities with revenues below £100m would be covered automatically unless they opt out.

• •Individual claims from smaller businesses could be worth several thousands of pounds each.
• •Larger businesses would need to opt in, and could be owed tens of millions across the claim period.

Visa and Mastercard respond

Mastercard dismissed the action as speculative and part of a growing trend of opportunistic funder-backed litigation. A Mastercard spokesperson said it is exactly the type of claim the UK government's proposed opt-out class action reforms - announced recently and put out for consultation this summer - are meant to prevent.

A Mastercard spokesperson said: "We strongly disagree with the basis of this claim." The company added that interchange supports the UK payments ecosystem and lets people and businesses pay and be paid quickly and securely.

A Visa spokesperson said: "Visa continues to believe that interchange is a critical component to maintaining a secure digital payments ecosystem that benefits all parties, including consumers, merchants and banks."

Who funds and leads the case

Bench Walk Advisors, a litigation funder headquartered in London since its 2017 launch, is backing the case. It is led by Stephen Allen, a British businessman and former travel sector executive who has pursued Visa and Mastercard in group actions since 2021. Last year the two companies agreed to pay a combined $167.5m to settle a US class action, filed in 2011, accusing them of conspiring to keep ATM access fees artificially high.

The UK case could take years to reach a conclusion.