Merchants have collected $631.7 million from the $5.5 billion Visa and Mastercard antitrust settlement, a fraction of the total that leaves the bulk of the fund intact while the court prepares to rule on the injunctive half of the deal. The second partial distribution, approved in June, added $212.8 million for 84,000 claimants last month, bringing the number of paid merchants to 689,340.
The numbers so far
The class administrator, Epiq, reported the figures in a Friday filing to the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. About 1.47 million merchants filed claims by the February 2025 deadline, out of 2.12 million tax identification numbers registered in the class. The damages settlement covers any U.S. business that accepted Visa or Mastercard cards between January 2004 and January 2019.
The fund still holds most of the money
After the distributions, the settlement fund held $5.02 billion as of September 30. The next quarterly claims report is due in January. Magistrate Judge Joseph Marutollo separately approved $21.4 million in administrative fees for Epiq covering April through August.
The injunctive piece comes next
District Judge Brian Cogan has scheduled a hearing next month on the second component of the case: a proposed settlement governing future swipe-fee rules. The card networks and class counsel support it. The litigation dates to October 2005.
Big merchants are not on board
Walmart, Circle K and DoorDash are among the large merchants urging Cogan to reject the injunctive settlement. Their opposition signals that the final shape of the deal, and the pace of the remaining payouts, remains uncertain.