The U.K. Supreme Court
greenlit a ÂŁ14bn class action suit against Mastercard on Friday.
Move over, Zuck. Facebook’s been hogging the antitrust headlines, but the case against Mastercard is the biggest class-action suit of its kind.
Walter Merricks, the ex-Financial Ombudsman exec behind the suit, claims Mastercard imposed “excessive card transaction charges” on 46 million British consumers between 1992 to 2008.
Historic x2. It’s also the first mass claim to be launched under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which compensates consumers for unlawful anti-competitive behaviour.
Next steps. After the SC’s judgement, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (who threw the case out in 2017) will reconsider whether to approve Merricks’ lawsuit.
Coming soon to a wallet near you: ÂŁ300 - the payout every adult in the UK could receive if Merricks wins.
THE TAKEAWAY
Mastercard’s denying all charges. In perhaps the worse comeback ever, the company, whose shares
fell 1.2% in New York, said: “No UK consumers have asked for this.”
Legal commentators are
predicting the SC’s judgement will kick open the floodgates for more large-scale litigation against corporations.
1-0. Mastercard and Visa lost a similar legal battle in June overÂ
swipe fees.