Small UK businesses could soon make claims against MasterCard of up to millions of pounds in overcharged credit card fees, after a law firm received the financial backing to represent claimants.
According to Business Advice in cooperation with KPMG, the possibility of a pay-out to smaller firms follows a victory by Sainsbury’s in last July’s Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT) regarding overcharged credit card fees. MasterCard was ordered to pay the retail giant £68.5m after breaching the legal limit of merchant fee charges. The payments corporation had overcharged credit card fees by 0.4 per cent, and debit cards by 0.09 per cent. Businesses that depend on merchant terminals for sales and transactions – such as retailers, restaurants and hotels – may stand to win significant compensation.
Maclay Murray & Spens LLP (MMS) is the commercial law firm throwing itself behind future cases, and will be able to represent small companies in England and Scotland that have suffered over the MasterCard breach.
