American Express, a payment processing company in the United States, has recently agreed to a settlement of $17.5 million to resolve a class action lawsuit, which was filed against them for an allegation of violating antitrust.
Here, we have discussed everything you need to know about the $17.5M American Express Antitrust Settlement. Stay tuned to check if you are eligible to get a payout from the fund, how much you can expect to receive, what you are required to do to get a payout, and much more.
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$17.5M American Express Antitrust Settlement
The $17.5M American Express Antitrust Settlement resulted from a class action lawsuit, which was filed against American Express with the following allegations:
- It enforced ‘anti-steering’ rules in merchant agreements, which prevented them from encouraging customers to use lower-fee cards, such as Visa, Mastercard, and Discover.
- It maintained higher merchant discount fees because merchants couldn’t steer customers to cheaper cards; and
- It caused higher retail prices, because merchants passed these higher processing costs onto consumers in the form of increased prices.
American Express has agreed to the settlement but didn’t accept the wrongdoing, although the settlement has received the preliminary approval from the court.
Who can get a payout from the American Express Antitrust Settlement?
The American Express Antitrust Settlement is going to benefit the individuals who used a Visa or Mastercard debit card to buy goods or services from qualifying merchants:
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- Between January 29, 2015, and June 1, 2022, in Alabama, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oregon, or Utah.
- Between January 29, 2016, and June 1, 2022, in Kansas, Illinois, or Mississippi.
It also benefits those individuals who used a Visa, Mastercard, or Discover general-purpose credit/charge card, which didn’t offer rewards and didn’t charge an annual fee, between January 29, 2015, and June 1, 2022, in the District of Columbia and between January 29, 2016, and June 1, 2022, in Kansas or Illinois.
What to do to get a payout from the American Express Antitrust Settlement?
In order to get a payout from the $17.5 million American Express Antitrust Settlement, it is mandatory that you file a claim form by the deadline. The due date to file a claim is May 19, 2026; you can file it online through the settlement portal and offline via postmarking.
Notes:
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- The due date for data to raise objections against the proposed settlement, if you have any, and opt-out from the class members, if you aren’t interested in getting the settlement payout and want to keep the right to sue the company separately, is April 29, 2026.
- The fairness hearing for the $17.5 million American Express Antitrust Settlement is all set to take place on June 17, 2026; on this day the court will decide if the settlement is fair to benefit all the class members. Attorney fees and other costs will also be decided on this date.
How much will be received from the $17.5 million American Express Antitrust Settlement?
The total fund for the American Express antitrust class action settlement is $17.5M, out of which around 33% will be deducted for the attorney fee and administration costs, and the remaining fund will be distributed among the claimants.
It isn’t yet publicly disclosed how much each claimant will receive. The payout is going to take place on a pro rata basis, which means each individual is going to get an equal share. Some reliable media sources have reported the maximum one is going to get from the settlement is $200.
How to file a claim form for the $17.5M American Express Antitrust Settlement?
Filling a claim form for the $17.5M American Express Antitrust Settlement is quite easy; you can go through the step-by-step to file it.
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- Go to the American Express Antitrust settlement website at https://amexantitrust.com/
- Navigate to the menu bar and click on the ‘File a Claim’ button.
- Login with Unique ID and PIN, and click on the Submit button.
- Fill in your personal information, address, and other details.
- Choose the payment gateway as direct deposit, and file your settlement claim form by clicking on the Submit button.