Do you qualify for the up to £70 in compensation that millions of shoppers are able to receive?

A £200 million settlement from Mastercard will be made available to millions of consumers

We go over eligibility, the procedure, and when you can expect to receive the funds.

A protracted legal battle against Mastercard may result in millions of consumers receiving up to 70 dollars in compensation each, and most importantly, you don't need to have a Mastercard to make a claim.

A settlement in a case against Mastercard over historical fees the card issuer imposed on businesses was approved by a tribunal last month.

Former Financial Ombudsman Walter Merricks claimed that in the 15 years between 1992 and 2008, fees were incorrectly applied to transactions, resulting in higher prices for customers who should be compensated.

To be eligible for the payout, you do not need to have ever used a Mastercard credit or debit card.

The 200 million settlement against Mastercard is the largest group claim settlement in the United Kingdom, according to consumer expert Martyn James. 44 million people are thought to be eligible for a payout of between 40 and 70 million dollars as a direct consequence of this legal action.

What is the reason behind Mastercard's compensation order?

There are a number of steps involved in getting your money into the retailer's bank account whenever you make a purchase with a credit or debit card.

Between consumers, banks, merchants, and any other businesses that accept card payments, card networks such as Mastercard and Visa serve as intermediaries. The networks receive a tiny fee for every purchase in exchange.

The focus of the lawsuit against Mastercard was these card processing fees, which the plaintiffs claimed were excessively high and made it more costly for businesses to take card payments.

It's possible that retailers and other businesses raised the prices of goods and services to reflect these higher expenses. This implies that everyone may have been impacted, whether they paid with cash or another kind of card like Visa or American Express.

James notes that the European Commission ordered Mastercard to lower its fees, also referred to as "interchange fees," back in the middle of the 2000s. Millions of people, nevertheless, might have been overcharged by then.

Consequently, Merricks filed a class action or group action on behalf of all impacted parties. "With an estimated 44 million people impacted, the initial claim sought 10 billion in compensation," he says.

Merricks stated that the settlement "represents a fair and just outcome for UK consumers" in his commentary. Additionally, he stated: "For extended periods, almost every UK customer had suffered from paying higher prices than they ought to have since retailers passed those costs on to them.

Who can get reimbursement from Mastercard?

If you fulfill all five requirements, you will be eligible to receive the compensation.

Between 1997 and 2008, you spent a minimum of three consecutive months in the United Kingdom. The precise dates are June 20, 1997, and June 21, 2008, for England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. Scotland's dates are May 22, 1992, through June 21, 2008. Throughout those three months, you were at least 16 years old. Anyone born on or after March 22, 1992, is therefore ineligible to make a claim. In the same time frame, you purchased goods or services from a UK-based company. It is not required that a Mastercard be used for this. The date of your stay in the UK was September 6, 2016. You haven't opted out of the case before.

How can I make the claim?

"in the coming weeks" is when MastercardConsumerClaim . co . uk will post information on how to make a claim. Epiq, a legal services firm chosen for its proficiency in handling these kinds of claims, is operating this website.

To receive notifications when the online claim form is ready, you can register on the website.

Making a claim is free, and you have ninety days from the time the online form becomes available to submit your claim.

In order to file a claim, you will not need to provide any supporting documentation, according to MastercardConsumerClaim . co . uk. However, you will need to self-certify that you are eligible to do so and supply your name, date of birth, mailing and email addresses, phone number, and banking information where your portion of the settlement money will be deposited.

If the deceased or incapacitated person satisfies the five requirements listed above, they may be eligible to make a claim on their behalf.

What would I be able to earn?

Each person will receive 45 if the anticipated number of Mastercard compensation claims is approximately 2 to 2 million, as estimated by experts. The individual payout will drop as more people file claims.

The maximum amount each person can receive is 70 if fewer people than anticipated apply; any money left over will be donated to the Access to Justice Foundation, a nonprofit organization.

Will I receive the money soon?

By the end of the year, payments are anticipated to be made.

As stated by MastercardConsumerClaim . co . uk: "Payments will be made throughout 2025, but the precise date of payment will be announced on this website in due course.