Swipe Fee Settlement Heads to Final Approval: What's at Stake

The Visa Mastercard settlement final approval hearing is Nov. 16. Learn what objectors argue, what's at stake for your card fees and what records to pull now.

MannyPay Editorial TeamBeyond the Swipe editorial desk

October 20, 2026 · 8 min read

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Photo: Pixabay

On this page 7 sections

What Happened: Visa and Mastercard's Latest Court Filing
Interchange Settlement Objections: Why Walmart and Trade Groups Want It Blocked
What the Visa Mastercard Settlement Final Approval Hearing Will Decide
Are You in the Merchant Class? How to Tell
Possible Outcomes and What Each Means for Your Fees
What to Do Now: Records, Statements, and Deadlines to Watch
The Bottom Line

Key takeaways

A federal judge in Brooklyn will hold the final approval hearing on the Visa and Mastercard swipe fee settlement on Nov. 16, 2026. A ruling may come later, and appeals could add more time.
In a joint reply this month, Visa and Mastercard said Walmart and the trade groups are a "vocal minority" repeating arguments the court has already rejected.
The settlement changes card acceptance rules going forward and pays no damages. Objectors say this class is mandatory, which is why Walmart is asking for the right to opt out.
Don't change your pricing or surcharging setup yet. Pull your statements, learn your card mix and check whether your pricing model would pass any interchange cut through to you.

The Visa Mastercard settlement final approval hearing is scheduled for Nov. 16, 2026, in federal court in Brooklyn. The two networks have just filed their last major argument for why the deal should go through. This article covers what they said, why Walmart and several large trade groups want the settlement blocked, what the judge will actually decide and what you should do with your processing statements now, whether the deal is approved or rejected.

Facts below are current as of Oct. 20, 2026. Court schedules can change, so check for updates before you act.

What Happened: Visa and Mastercard's Latest Court Filing

In mid-October, Payments Dive reported that Visa and Mastercard had filed a joint reply to the objections against the settlement. Their main arguments:

The objections repeat old ground. The networks said objectors are repeating arguments the court already considered and rejected when it granted preliminary approval.
Objectors overestimate their chances at trial. Even if merchants won, the networks argued, the court would be unlikely to order remedies "anywhere near as extreme" as the objectors want.
The objectors are few. With more than 12 million merchants in the class, the networks called Walmart and the large trade associations "no more than a vocal minority."
Trade group objections deserve little weight. The networks noted that some members of the National Retail Federation (NRF) and the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) support the settlement.
Walmart shouldn't be allowed to opt out. They asked the court to reject what they called Walmart's "novel proposition" that keeping it in the class amounts to an unjust taking of its legal claim.

Some background helps here. The litigation dates to 2005. Courts rejected two earlier settlement attempts, one in 2016 and one in June 2024. The current deal was unveiled in November 2025. U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan granted preliminary approval on June 9, 2026, finding the agreement offered more extensive relief than the version rejected in 2024.

What the Settlement Would Change

According to Payments Dive's summary of the terms, the settlement would:

Cut credit interchange by 10 basis points (0.10 percentage point) for five years
Cap interchange on standard consumer credit cards at 1.25% for eight years
Let merchants decline some higher-cost premium and commercial cards, a departure from the networks' "honor all cards" rule
Expand merchants' ability to add surcharges or offer discounts to steer customers toward cheaper payment methods

Two details matter for your statement. First, an analysis of the signed agreement by PayKings found that the 10-basis-point cut applies to each network's system-wide, volume-weighted average credit interchange rate, not to every merchant's rate individually. Second, the cut would start no earlier than four months after approval and would line up with the networks' regular April or October interchange updates. The settlement pays merchants no cash damages. It only changes the rules going forward.

Interchange Settlement Objections: Why Walmart and Trade Groups Want It Blocked

The objections were filed in September. A Merchant Payments Coalition filing listed 978 merchants and trade groups opposed to final approval, and Payments Dive described Walmart and about 1,000 other merchants asking the judge to reject the deal.

The Walmart Objection to the Swipe Fee Settlement

Walmart's filing argues that the settlement gives Visa, Mastercard and large banks "sweeping" immunity from future lawsuits while offering merchants "temporary and meager relief." Walmart, Circle K and the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) have asked for the right to opt out. Objectors have also asked the court to decertify the class altogether. Walmart has made a version of this argument since late 2025: large national merchants' interests differ too much from smaller class members' to be bundled together.

What Trade Groups Argue

The core system stays in place. RILA and the NRF say the agreement leaves the swipe fee system intact while taking away merchants' ability to challenge it.
Network fees aren't covered. NACS points out that the 10-basis-point cut applies only to interchange paid to card-issuing banks. Nothing stops Visa and Mastercard from raising their own network fees.
Grocers want permanent reform. FMI, the Food Industry Association, said the deal does not deliver the "permanent reform" grocers have sought for over two decades.
The cut is too small for restaurants. The National Restaurant Association argued that 0.10% would barely offset recent increases in average interchange rates.
Declining premium cards may not work in practice. Large merchants have argued they can't easily refuse premium rewards cards because customers like them.

Supporters see it differently. Visa has said the settlement would give merchants "meaningful relief, more flexibility, and options." Supporters value the deal at more than $200 billion over its term. Objectors dispute that figure, and other reports have described the deal using different valuations.

What the Visa Mastercard Settlement Final Approval Hearing Will Decide

At the Visa Mastercard settlement hearing, set for Nov. 16, 2026, at 11 a.m. in the Eastern District of New York, Judge Cogan will decide whether the deal is "fair, reasonable, and adequate." He used that same standard at preliminary approval, when he wrote that the court's job is not to decide whether the deal is ideal by every class member's standards.

In practice, he will weigh the objections against what the class could realistically win at trial. At preliminary approval, he said some objections had merit, but his decision turned on that comparison. The hearing will also take up related disputes, including attorneys' fee requests.

Don't expect a decision on Nov. 16 itself. The court may take time or ask for more information before ruling.

Are You in the Merchant Class? How to Tell

This merchant class action over interchange actually has two separate tracks, and they're easy to confuse:

	Damages Settlement (Earlier)	Rules Settlement (Now Pending)
What it does	Paid money for past fees	Changes fees and rules going forward
Who's covered	Businesses that accepted Visa or Mastercard between 2004 and 2019	Merchants that accept Visa or Mastercard in the U.S.
Size	$5.5 billion fund	No cash payments
Status	Final approval granted in 2019	Final approval hearing Nov. 16, 2026

If you accept Visa or Mastercard in the U.S., PayKings' reading of the agreement is that you're in the pending class. That applies whether you sell at a register, at the table or online. This settlement has no claim form.

Can You Opt Out of the Swipe Fee Settlement?

Under current terms, objectors describe the class as mandatory, meaning merchants can't opt out. That's exactly why Walmart, Circle K and NACS are asking the court for opt-out rights, and why Visa and Mastercard are pushing back. If you have concerns about the settlement's release of future claims, talk to your own attorney. This article is general information, not legal advice.

Possible Outcomes and What Each Means for Your Fees

Outcome	What It Likely Means for Merchants
Approved as written	Rate changes start no earlier than four months after approval. Appeals could still delay them.
Approved with changes	Terms or timing could shift. Watch for revised notices.
Rejected	The parties go back to negotiating or to trial. Current rules and rates stay in place.

Even if the judge approves the deal, the fight may not be over. One observer told Digital Transactions that major merchants would likely appeal, potentially pushing the final resolution into 2028.

An illustrative example: Say a store runs $80,000 a month in credit card sales. A 0.10-point cut on that volume works out to about $80 a month. But the cut applies to the networks' average rate, so your own result depends on your card mix. It also depends on whether your processor passes interchange changes through to you. On flat-rate or tiered pricing, an interchange cut may never reach you. Our guide to interchange-plus vs. flat-rate vs. tiered pricing explains how each model handles pass-through.

How It Plays Out by Industry

Retail stores: The right to decline certain premium cards matters most where customers pay with rewards cards and tickets are high. Turning those cards away could cost you sales. See our retail payment processing options.
Grocery markets: Margins are thin, volume is high and debit and credit both carry heavy weight. That's why grocers are focused on permanent reform rather than a temporary cut. Explore payment processing for grocery markets.
Restaurants and bars: Tips get added after authorization, and rush hours leave no time for checkout friction. If you're thinking about adding a surcharge, plan to disclose it clearly to guests, and check card network rules and state law before you start. Our restaurant payment processing guide covers the setup.
E-commerce stores: Online payments are card-not-present transactions and are priced differently from in-store ones. If you add a surcharge online, plan to disclose it clearly to shoppers, and check card network rules and state law first. The ecommerce payment processing guide walks through the basics.

What to Do Now: Records, Statements, and Deadlines to Watch

Nothing in the agreement takes effect before final approval, so don't change your acceptance or surcharging setup because of it yet. Use the time to get your numbers in order instead. If you're also tracking other changes to how customers pay, see our guide to what Visa and Mesh crypto spending changes at your checkout. To figure your holiday card costs before Black Friday, read our guide to Halloween swipe fees and holiday pricing moves for merchants. For incident planning, see our data breach notification checklist for merchants. To follow the related fight in Congress, read where the Credit Card Competition Act stands and what it'd change.

Pull 12 months of processing statements. Save them in one place, because you'll want a baseline to compare against if rates change.
Calculate your effective rate. Divide total monthly fees by total card volume, and track the number month to month.
Break down your card mix. Separate standard consumer, premium rewards, commercial and debit volume. The settlement treats each differently.
Ask your processor for interchange detail. Ask for a line-item interchange breakdown and how network fees are billed. Ask whether a future interchange cut would pass through to you.
Review your surcharge and discount options now. Rules vary by state and by card network. Compare cash discount vs. surcharge vs. dual pricing, and confirm local rules with a qualified professional.
Watch the calendar. Key dates are the Nov. 16 hearing, the written ruling and any appeal deadlines. If the deal is approved, also watch the first April or October network update that falls at least four months after approval.

If you want to lower your processing costs now rather than wait on the court, MannyPay offers compliant surcharging programs where permitted, along with dual pricing and cash discount programs for eligible merchants. You can also request a free processing quote. A MannyPay specialist responds within one business day.

The Bottom Line

The Nov. 16 hearing decides whether 12 million merchants are bound by a deal that trims credit interchange for five to eight years in exchange for a broad release of future claims. Whatever the outcome, merchants who know their effective rate, card mix and pricing model will be ready for what comes next. If you have questions about how the outcome could affect your account, contact the MannyPay team.

This article is general information, not legal or financial advice. Confirm details with a qualified professional.

Sources

About the author

MannyPay Editorial Team

Beyond the Swipe's editorial desk researches the publication's guides and news and cites its sources in every article. Articles reviewed by a named MannyPay editor carry that editor's byline.

This article is for general educational purposes and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Card network rules and state laws change; confirm current requirements for your business.