Settlement Notification

Notice of a $6+ billion dollar class action settlement with merchants who have accepted Visa and MasterCard since January 1, 2004.

Recently members who have accepted Visa and MasterCard since January 1, 2004 were notified of a class action settlement.

Members may have also received a letter from a company named Lex Group, LLC soliciting services to assist with receiving your share of the settlement. The letter included an ORLA member logo. Lex Group, LLC is an associate member of the association. Our associates as well as restaurant and lodging members are welcome to use the ORLA member logo to indicate association membership, not endorsement. ORLA in no way endorses Lex Group, LLC. A list of association endorsed service providers can be found on OregonRLA.org.

Detail
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York has ordered a notification program about preliminary approval of a Class Settlement among merchants, Visa, MasterCard, and other Defendants in a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit claims that merchants paid excessive fees for accepting Visa and MasterCard because of an alleged conspiracy among the Defendants.

Settlement Benefits
The monetary portion of the Class Settlement consists of two funds. The first is a cash fund in the amount of $6.05 billion. Any person, business or other entity that accepted Visa or MasterCard credit or debit cards in the U.S. at any time between January 1, 2004 and November 28, 2012 may be eligible to receive a payment from the $6.05 billion fund. The second is a fund equivalent to a portion of interchange fees attributable to certain merchants that accept Visa or MasterCard credit cards for an eight-month period to start by July 29, 2013. That fund is estimated to be approximately $1.2 billion. Additionally, the Settlement will require Visa and MasterCard to modify some of their rules for merchants that accept their cards.

Important Dates
•    Exclusion Deadline: May 28, 2013
•    Objection Deadline: May 28, 2013
•    Fairness Hearing: September 12, 2013, 10:00 a.m.
•    Claim Filing Deadline: After the September 12, 2013 hearing, a claim form will be submitted to the Court for approval and a claim deadline will then be set.

More information can be found at www.paymentcardsettlement.com

If you have any questions about ORLA’s endorsed services please contact John Hamilton, VP of marketing and communications at 503.682.4422.