Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. won approval for a $5.7 billion settlement that ended years of litigation with U.S. merchants over allegations that credit-card swipe fees are improperly fixed, Bloomberg News reported today. U.S. District Judge John Gleeson said that he was satisfied with the settlement, which was estimated to be the largest-ever U.S. antitrust accord. Visa and MasterCard have defended themselves for decades against legal claims that they operated price-fixing schemes. Swipe, or interchange, fees are set by Visa and MasterCard and paid by merchants when consumers use credit or debit cards. MasterCard and Visa separated from the banks through initial public offerings in 2006 and 2008, respectively. Merchants filed a class-action lawsuit against the companies and the biggest card-issuing banks in 2005. They later alleged that the payment networks continued to fix prices with the banks even after the IPOs.
