One of the worst things about dealing with banks is the fees that they tack on to seemingly every transaction. Withdrawing money from an ATM seems to be one of the easiest ways to rack up a bunch of them, especially when the ATM is not from your bank. But although it is a common occurrence that most people have learned to live with and navigate, there are some cases where fees are excessive and unwarranted. This is what was found in a historic landmark case against Visa, Mastercard and some of the biggest banks in the country.

With the almost excessive closing of many bank branches, customers all over the country are being severely limited on their options of where and when to get cash or do some of the everyday transactions that require a bank, like check cashing. Most of the transactions can nowadays be handled by an ATM of any bank, as there are agreements in place in case there is not one of your specific financial institutions nearby, but this comes with added costs and fees.

This is what the Department of Justice (DoJ) started investigating. Visa, Mastercard and banks like JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo or Bank of America have been accused of manipulating and inflating ATM fees to increase their profits in an undue manner, furthermore, they are suspected of colluding in order to keep the fees artificially high to make the profit margin in these transactions even higher, limiting the fair market competition and causing harm to consumers.

The investigation by the DoJ happened following a class action lawsuit involving customers that were overcharged fees during the 1^st of October 2007 to the 26^th of July 2024 period. In the suit, the affected individuals allege that the practices were predatory and that the institutions are responsible for the economic consequences customers may have suffered as a result of the inflated fees.

Visa CEO Ryan McInerney doesn’t believe the DoJ has a case, “We believe the lawsuit is meritless and shows a clear lack of understanding of the payment ecosystem in the United States. We will defend ourselves vigorously and are confident in our ability to demonstrate that Visa competes for every transaction in a thriving debit space that continues to grow and see new entrants.”

Despite his vehement protests, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America have already agreed to settlements totaling $67 million to resolve their liability in the case, and now the two credit card companies are agreeing to a settlement to resolve the issue. Visa will contribute $104.675 million, and Mastercard will contribute $92.825 million for a total settlement fund of $197.5 million.

The reasons why the Visa and Mastercard settlement is one for the history books

This settlement is a victory for consumers, who were forced to pay excessive penalties for using ATMs that did not correspond to their banks, but in areas where there are not branches or ATMs of their particular financial institutions, there is no recourse for them and the predatory fees are inevitable. This is especially damaging in bank desert areas because the options are even more limited and there is no possibility of finding a better option, which falls into monopoly territory.

Antitrust laws that are in place to protect consumers from monopolies could be in play here and the lawsuit could be used to force the banks to drop the fees in these underserved areas. The lawsuit could also serve as precedent to avoid the spreading of these practices to other areas and cause more damage to consumers, helping bring about change in payment laws.

For those consumers that believe they have been unduly affected by the excessive fees, thy have until the 22^nd

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of November 2024 to file their petition for reimbursement along with any proof they have. This will allow you to get the portion of the allocated funds that corresponds to your specific case.