Swipe-Fee Judge Refuses to Dismiss Retailers' Appeals

The appeals process initiated by retailers just a few days after a district court approved a $5.7 billion settlement in the years-long swipe-fee case will proceed.

Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. asked the court to dismiss more than 30 lawsuits filed by retailers seeking billions of dollars in damages, potentially seeking more than they would get from the approved settlement.

But U.S. District Judge John Gleeson refused to dismiss the suits, saying his decision was "in large part driven by the requirement that I accept all well-pleaded factual allegations as true" because the cases were in the early stages of litigation. Arguments made by the credit card companies "may need to be revisited," Gleeson said, according to published reports.

The plaintiffs chose not to join the settlement Gleeson approved in December of 2013, which at the time was meant to conclude a case that was initiated by a small group of retailers in 2005. The retailers objected to the pricing the card brands and banks were setting for the cards they were issuing.

The settlement terms allowed retailers to opt out, and many filed their own suits, claiming the settlement wasn't nearly enough to compensate for the fees previously paid.