UK court allows $18.5 bn class action against Mastercard

London, December 11

A landmark UK Supreme Court ruling on Friday has allowed a 14 billion pound ($18.5 billion) class action to proceed against Mastercard for allegedly overcharging more than 46 million people in Britain over a 15-year period.

The complex case, brought after Mastercard lost an appeal against a 2007 European Commission ruling that its fees were anti-competitive, could entitle adults in Britain to 300 pounds each if it is successful.

The case file

• The court has allowed lawsuit against Mastercard for allegedly overcharging over 46 m people in UK for over 15 years
• It could entitle adults in Britain to 300 pounds each if it is successful

The court dismissed a Mastercard appeal, setting the scene for Britain’s first mass consumer claim brought under a new legal regime and setting up a standard for a string of other stalled class actions. “Mastercard has been a sustained competition law-breaker, imposing excessive card transaction charges over a prolonged period in a way it must have known would impose an invisible tax on UK consumers,” said Walter Merricks, a lawyer who is leading the action. — Reuters