Mastercard payout: why 46m Brits could be eligible

Mastercard faces the prospect of paying compensation to nearly every adult in the UK after a £14 billion damages claim on behalf of UK consumers was revived by a court ruling.

Former financial ombudsman Walter Merricks is currently in the process of bringing legal action against the financial services firm on behalf of estimated 46.2m people, after claims surfaced that consumers had overpaid on purchases in shops for decades due to Mastercard's transaction fees.

Merricks, 73, claims that Mastercard subjected merchants to “unlawful” interchange fees between 1992 and 2008, adding that these charges were then passed on to the consumer at sales level.

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The Times reports that in 2007 the European Commission “ruled that the member banks of Mastercard were in effect running a cartel and declared the fees unlawful”.

Two years ago, the Competition Appeal Tribunal threw out Merricks’s claim, ruling it “would not grant an order for the case to continue to trial”, The Guardian reports. But in a “dramatic turnaround”, the court of appeal has ordered the tribunal to reconsider what has become the biggest class action in UK legal history.

“I am very pleased with today’s decision,” said Merricks. “It’s now time for Mastercard to admit the damage they did, to apologise to the British public, and to agree to pay the compensation they owe,” he added.

Mastercard said it “disagree[s] fundamentally with the basis of the claim”, adding that it was seeking permission to appeal against the ruling to the Supreme Court.

The lawsuit has sparked significant national interest due to rumours that nearly all UK adults may receive compensation for Mastercard’s alleged overcharging.

Who would be eligible for a payout?

The Times says that if the case is successful, it may “enable anyone who was aged 16 or over between 1992 and 2008 to claim compensation from Mastercard”.

The Independent suggests that the claimants allege that all shops who accepted Mastercard charged higher prices, and thus even people who never owned one of the company’s credit cards would still be in line for compensation.

“As a result [of the fees] we all had to pay higher prices in the shops than we should have done – while Mastercard have pocketed the profits,” said Merricks.

How much would each person receive?

Merricks said the maximum payout would be around £300 if a person can prove they were in the UK in the 16 years between 1992 and 2008 for at least three months.