UK businesses file a GBP 5bn collective interchange claim against Visa and Mastercard at the Competition Appeal Tribunal

Law firms Harcus Parker and Hausfeld filed an application with the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal for a collective action against Visa and Mastercard over multilateral interchange fees, seeking compensation for UK businesses allegedly overcharged on card payments since October 2020. The Guardian reports the claim could be worth around GBP 5bn, covering six years of fees plus interest.

If the tribunal grants a collective proceedings order, roughly one million businesses with annual revenue under GBP 100m would be enrolled automatically on an opt-out basis, while those above GBP 100m must opt in. Bench Walk Advisors is funding the costs and Stephen Allen is the proposed class representative. Businesses already claiming against the schemes, or whose claims were extinguished by earlier settlements, cannot take part.

Multilateral interchange sits inside every merchant service charge, so the application puts the schemes' core acceptance pricing before the tribunal on behalf of the entire UK merchant base rather than individual claimants. It follows the June 2025 CAT finding that commercial and consumer card interchange restricted competition, which Visa and Mastercard are appealing, and adds to the pressure from the UK Payment Systems Regulator's cross-border interchange caps that the High Court upheld this year.

Whether the tribunal grants the collective proceedings order and certifies the opt-out class, and how the Court of Appeal rules on the 2025 interchange judgment the claim rests on.

• electronicpaymentsinternational.com
• Payment Expert, 27 October 2026