Mastercard sued for £14bn in damages.

[joglynne]

Some 46 million people in Britain could potentially benefit from a legal case brought against Mastercard demanding 14 billion pounds in damages for allegedly charging excessive fees, according to court documents filed in London.

The case brought by a former chief financial services ombudsman alleges the payments company charged unlawfully high fees to stores when shoppers swiped their debit or credit cards and these were passed on to consumers in higher prices.

Mastercard is alleged to have done this for 16 years between 1992 and 2008, in more than 600 pages of documents filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal on Thursday."This was almost an invisible tax," Walter Merricks, who is bringing the case, told the BBC. "Mastercard has behaved disgracefully in this. They have not had the reasonableness to accept that what this was doing was damaging UK consumers."

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mas...-idUKKCN11E2S7

This lawsuit was originally reported in July and at that time Law firm Quinn Emanuel alleged that the fees charged by Mastercard were a significant cost for retailers and ...

This cost was then passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices for goods and services. The lawsuit claims that UK consumers have lost as much as £19bn as a result of the fees.

“The prices of everything we all bought from 1992 to 2008 were higher than they should have been as a result of the unlawful conduct of MasterCard,” said Walter Merricks, a former Chief Financial Services Ombudsman who is spearheading the claim.

snippet In 2014, MasterCard was found to have infringed EU law by imposing intercharge fees on cross-border card transactions.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6f0fdb5c-4...2b3873ae1.html

So, potentially a heck of a lot of us who bought anything between 1992 and 2008 could be in for some compensation.

Not going to hold my breath..

[joglynne]

I am of the same mind Maggy, the shear amount of money involved will ensure that this case is fought in the courts for years.

I can't imagine how much these indirect transaction charges would have added to the items I bought but I seem to remember having invoices from a certain computer hardware supplier informing me that payment by card would attacked a 5% surcharge.

[heero_yuy]

Could this be the next PPI?

[joglynne]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

Could this be the next PPI?

If it does go that way then I will be interested how MasterCard try to limit their liabilities. Everyone over 18 who bought anything in the UK between 1992 and 2008 will have potentially have been overcharged. I have read estimates at this being in the region of 46 million people.

[heero_yuy]

Originally Posted by joglynne

If it does go that way then I will be interested how MasterCard try to limit their liabilities. Everyone over 18 who bought anything in the UK between 1992 and 2008 will have potentially have been overcharged. I have read estimates at this being in the region of 46 million people.

It won't just be Mastercard. All the credit card companies have been at it to a lesser or greater degree.

[joglynne]

I suspect that will be their final argument when the amount of their financial responsibilities is decided. Working out the percentage liabilities will most likely keep the legal eagles busy for a long time and prove to be very lucrative for the firms involved.

..... alleges the payments company charged unlawfully high fees

Since when has there been a law on the level of fees ? What law is that ?

[pip08456]

Originally Posted by Paul M

Since when has there been a law on the level of fees ? What law is that ?

Usury.

"A loan may be considered usurious because of excessive or abusive interest rates or other factors."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usury

[Hom3r]

My Barclaycard until recently was a Mastercard.

I rarely didn't pay off when the bill came through, so I won't be effected by this.

[joglynne]

Originally Posted by Hom3r

My Barclaycard until recently was a Mastercard.

I rarely didn't pay off when the bill came through, so I won't be effected by this.

According to the reports I have read the damages being claimed are due to the Mastercard fees levied on anyone using their services to collect/make payments from their customers/ suppliers, the cost of which was then passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices for goods and services.

So anyone who bought anything, no matter how they paid for it, could be due a payout if Mastercard loses this case.

[Hom3r]

I've spent thousands on Amazon, and play.com before that.

[joglynne]

Originally Posted by Hom3r

I've spent thousands on Amazon, and play.com before that.

There you go then. My local paper had the attention grabbing headline.

EVERYONE could get £330 from MasterCard - even if you've never had one

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co....youts-11863539

Although how accurate this amount will prove to be remains to be seen. Even if it proves to be accurate it will probably only pay for a couple of Cinema tickets in 10/15 years time when the payout is made.

Originally Posted by pip08456

Usury.

"A loan may be considered usurious because of excessive or abusive interest rates or other factors."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usury

I dont see anything in that to suggest specific UK laws on bank [or any] charges.

[Ignitionnet]

A few quid would be marvellous to pay off my Visa