Mastercard to pay out £100m to millions of customers – find out if YOU are eligible

By HELEN KIRRANE

Updated: 12:35 BST, 21 May 2025

Millions of people could receive up to £70 each after a tribunal approved a settlement in a landmark lawsuit against Mastercard which has been rumbling on for nearly a decade.

Mastercard is set to pay out £100million in compensation to 46million shoppers.

The decision came after long-running legal case brought forward by former financial ombudsman Walter Merricks in 2016. 

Merricks had claimed shoppers had paid higher prices between 1992 and 2008 due to higher card transaction fees, which were paid by retailers and then passed on to shoppers – these fees were later declared unlawful. 

The entire settlement is for £200million, with £100million of this ringfenced for shoppers who have until the end of this year to claim, with the rest expected to go to the company that funded the lawsuit.

This is the largest settlement of a group litigation for the benefit of UK consumers, though the multi-million pound payout is less than the £10billion to £15billon that Merricks claimed shoppers were originally owed.

Pay day: Mastercard is set to pay out £100m to 47m shoppers meaning they could receive up to £70

Who is eligible to claim? 

You don’t need to have owned a Mastercard at any point to be eligible for compensation. 

Consumers who lived in England, Wales or Northern Ireland for at least three months between June 1997 and June 2008, and bought goods or services from UK businesses that accepted Mastercard credit cards will be eligible to claim compensation. 

If you lived in Scotland for at least three months between May 1992 and June 2010 you will also be eligible to make a claim. 

Anyone eligible for compensation will have until the end of the year to claim. 

Mr Merricks said consumers would soon be able to register to receive a payout by completing an online form. 

If the expected 5 per cent of claimants – 2.5million people – come forward, then each will receive £45.

If fewer people apply, payments will be capped at £70 per claimant.

Mr Merricks said he brought the case forward because he believed ‘Mastercard’s fees paid by retailers for processing card transactions had been unlawfully high’.

‘Virtually all UK consumers had lost out for long periods by paying higher prices than they should have done as retailers passed on those costs.’

‘The settlement that has [today] been finally approved represents a fair and just outcome for UK consumers.’

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Mastercard to pay out £100m to millions of customers – find out if YOU are eligible

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