In a $12 Billion Case, Mastercard Loses a UK Ruling on Three Million Dead Claimants

CTN News –  Mastercard lost an appeal in a London court on Tuesday, allowing the claims of three million people who have died since the litigation began.

The worldwide payments processor is being sued by consumer advocate Walter Merricks on behalf of 46 million UK individuals. This is the first large consumer action to be permitted in the UK in 2021.

The case was validated last year after an almost five-year trip from the first-instance CAT to the UK Supreme Court and back.

In March, the CAT stated the deadline for establishing whether

In March, the CAT stated the deadline for establishing whether claimant class members are based in the UK should be when the action was launched in 2016, meaning the estates of around three million people who had died subsequently could continue their claims.

Mastercard’s challenge to that ruling was dismissed Tuesday by the Court of Appeal, which decided that the CAT may consider that 3 million persons with valid claims in 2016 would be disqualified.

Judge Julian Flaux said the UK’s collective proceedings framework – approximately equal to U.S. class actions – is to give access to justice for individual plaintiffs

Mastercard’s lawsuit would frustrate the general objective

Mastercard’s lawsuit would frustrate the general objective of the system,” he said. Mastercard will continue to fight the case and is certain it will be dismissed once the facts are provided.

Merricks’ lawyer Boris Bronfentrinker said: Mr. Merricks is happy with today’s judgment and looks forward to succeeding on the merits to secure the billions in damages owed by Mastercard to UK consumers.

Merricks claims MasterCard credit card charged exorbitant “interchange” fees between May 1992 and June 2008, which shops passed on to customers by raising prices.

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