NEW YORK – The Florida Retail Federation, which represents 7,000 merchants, today became the first group to officially ask the federal court here to reject the landmark antitrust settlement with Visa and MasterCard, calling the deal “an inadequate and unjust solution to a longstanding problem.”
In today’s letter to Judge John Gleeson, who is overseeing the antitrust case, Richard McAllister, president of the group, said his membership is “unequivocal in its dismay,” and he asked the judge to reject the settlement.
Numerous groups have also weighed in against the deal, but the Florida retailers are the first to formally ask the judge’s rejection.
Among the groups who have issued public statements opposing the settlement are: the National Restaurant Association, National Retail Federation, Retail Industry Leaders Association, National Association of Convenience Stores, National Cooperative Grocers Association, National Grocers Association, National Community Pharmacists Association, the Texas Food & Fuel Association, and the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America, as well as retail giants WalMart and Target and coffee chain Starbucks Corp.
Visa and MasterCard and the half dozen big banks who have signed on to the deal must submit the final terms of the settlement to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, by Friday.
Under the proposed settlement, Visa and MasterCard will pay $6 billion and the banks another $1.2 billion to seven million merchants and the card companies will temporarily reduce credit card swipe fees, also known as interchange fees, to save stores about $1.2 billion over an eight-month period.
The proposed settlement, said the Florida retailers, “will do nothing to encourage transparency or change the anti-competitive nature of the credit card industry.”
