The Competition Appeal Tribunal recently gave the go-ahead for the collective action that could see businesses compensated for the unlawful multilateral interchange fees (“MIFs”) set by Mastercard and VISA that applied to transactions involving commercial cards in the UK.
The claim alleges that businesses that received payments by commercial cards paid fees much higher than they should have been, causing them significant losses.
What are multilateral interchange fees?
Hidden within monthly transaction charges – and making up by far the largest portion of them – are “interchange fees” that Mastercard and Visa cause all businesses to incur.
Particularly egregious levels of fees are levied when you accept a commercial card, such as a company card. The average commercial card MIF rate is around 1.6% which means that for every £100 transaction this equates to £1.60.
What is happening?
The claim being brought by a Class Representative (Harcus Parker, a commercial litigation firm), alleges that businesses that received payments by commercial cards paid fees much higher than they should have been, causing them significant losses.
The claim period runs from June 2016 to June 2022, with damages continuing to accrue until the date of judgment or settlement.
A deadline of 10 February 2025 for involvement in these claims has been set by the Tribunal and businesses are encouraged to register their interest now to stay updated on developments in the proceedings and, if successful, to claim their share of any damages awarded.
If the case does not succeed, claimants will pay nothing – either towards the Class Representative costs, or towards the other sides.
For more information and to join the claim
For more information about the options to join the claim and to register your interest, you can visit the claim website at www.commercialcardclaim.co.uk.
You can also watch a UK Hospitality webinar about multilateral interchange fees claims with Harcus Parker here.
Hospitality accountants
We specialise in supporting hospitality and restaurant clients with a full range of accounting, tax, payroll and advisory services. We can also provide specialist advice for setting up and running Tronc schemes.
Find out more about our hospitality accountancy services here or contact us if you would like to discuss how we can assist your business.
Award-winning chartered accountants offering tax, audit and advisory services.