DADY & GARDNER, P.A.

LAWYERS FOR FRANCHISEES

5100 IDS Center, 80 South 8th Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402-2204

Telephone: (612) 359-9000    Fax: (612) 359-3507

__________

M E M O R A N D U M

TO: NAASF Community

FROM: Ron Gardner, NAASF General Counsel

RE: An Important Message from NAASF General Counsel Ron Gardner Regarding the Visa/Mastercard Class Action Settlement

Dear NAASF community:

I am writing to advise you that the court has finalized the claim form for the settlement of Visa/Mastercard Interchange case and begun sending these OFFICIAL claims forms. This settlement affects ANY MERCHANT that accepted Visa or Mastercard between 2005 and 2019. Here is a link to the Notice so that you know what to look for: Notice See link here to the official court-authorized settlement website: https://www.paymentcardsettlement.com/en

According to the official website, the official settlement administrator appointed by the court began mailing copies of the approved claim form on December 1 to all known members of the settlement class, and that’s expected to continue throughout December and possibly into January of 2024. Therefore, franchisees should start receiving these forms in the mail.

The settlement period covers interchange fees paid from 1/1/2004 to 1/25/2019. The Claim Form should include a summary of your estimated interchange fees paid with respect to Visa/MC transactions, as well as a Claim ID and Control Number. Franchisees can submit their claim by mailing back the form or by entering information from the form on the official settlement website. The claim has to be submitted by May 31, 2024, which is the end of the claim submission process. Payouts would occur after that date, and the claims administrator has noted in the FAQs on the official website that it “may take significant time” to pay out all claims.

The precise amount of any payout will depend on the number of people making claims and the size of those claims. I have seen some estimates being floated, but put no stock in those projections. However, $5.5 Billion is a lot of money and there is the potential that the recovery could be significant. What I can say for certain is that you will get nothing if you don’t file a claim. So, MAKE SURE TO FILE A CLAIM AND TO DO SO BEFORE May 31^st!

NOTE: Irrespective of the number, we want to make sure you are getting what you are entitled to. While we can’t know for sure what the number is, what you can do to get a potential idea is to closely examine the amount you are being told you will be entitled to on the claim form, and compare that to what you believe is 1 - 1.5% of what your Visa/MC sales volume was over the period you were taking those cards. We think that should give you some idea of the amount you are being awarded is close to what you are entitled to. If you believe there is a huge disparity between those numbers, NAASF has negotiated an arrangement with noted class-action lawyer Jana Eisinger (The Eisinger Law Firm) to represent any Subway franchisees in working up and handing their claims on a 20% contingency. 

If you are concerned about making sure you get all you are entitled to, we suggest you contact Jana at jeisinger@eisingerlawfirm.com. Jana is assisting literally hundreds of other class members and can help you review the claims administrator’s information, compile your data if needed, and contest your claim amount to ensure you get the money you are entitled to. (Additionally – we also believe that Subway may also be filing a claim; something that may cause conflict over who is entitled to receive funds for transactions in your store. While the court has previously ruled that only those who actually paid the interchange fees (you) are entitled to recovery, Subway’s claims may complicate things. In that event, Jana may also be of critical assistance.)

Franchisees may also be contacted by third party “settlement recovery firms” that want you to sign up for the firm to handle processing your claim as a class member. Before signing up with any third party settlement recovery firm, please be aware that these firms generally charge anywhere from 25% - 40% (and sometimes more) of what the franchisee would recover from the settlement. You are not required to sign up with any third-party recovery firm to make or recover your claim from the settlement. Per the FAQs, “you are entitled to contact the Class Administrator or Rule 23(b)(3) Class Counsel for assistance with understanding and filing your Claim Form — again, at no cost to you,” so there is no requirement to use a third party firm to assist you in the claim filing process.

The FAQs are helpful (linked to here, but reproduced in relevant part below --https://www.paymentcardsettlement.com/en/Home/Faq#faq9):

How do I file a claim?

Claim Forms began mailing to all known Class Members on December 1, 2023, and will continue to be mailed on a rolling basis. Please be patient.

You can scan the QR code provided on the Claim Form you received and use the secure website credentials provided on your claim form to file your claim.

If you file your claim online, it must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. PST by May 31, 2024.

Claim forms can also be mailed to: 

Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement

P.O. Box 2530

Portland, OR 97208-2530

Who Decides the Value of My Claim?

The Class Administrator has data from Defendants and others which permits it to estimate the total value of interchange fees attributable to each Authorized Claimant on its Visa and Mastercard card transactions during the period from January 1, 2004, to January 25, 2019, (“Interchange Fees Paid”). It is the current intention to utilize this data to the extent possible, to estimate the interchange fees attributable to members of the Rule 23(b)(3) Settlement Class.

Where the necessary data is not reasonably available to estimate a class member’s Interchange Fees Paid or if the Interchange Fees Paid claim value established by the Class Administrator is disputed by the class member, the class member is required to submit information in support of its claim. This information will include, to the extent known, Interchange Fees Paid attributable to the class member, merchant discount fees paid, the class member’s merchant category code and/or a description of the class member’s business, and total Visa and Mastercard transaction volume and/or total sales volume. Based on these data, the Interchange Fees Paid attributable to the class member will be estimated for each known member of the Rule 23(b)(3) Settlement Class.

The Class Administrator has provided class members the ability to access the claims website with a unique code to permit it to view the manner in which its claim value was calculated and may also provide this information on a pre-populated Claim Form. Class members may accept or disagree with data on the Claim Form or this website. The Claim Form and online claim filing portal explain how to challenge the data.

What if the Class Administrator doesn’t have my data?

The Claim Form also allows class members for whom no financial data is available or who were not identified as class members to file a claim. Those merchants will have to fill out and sign a Claim Form and return it by the deadline or complete the claim filing process online.

If a franchisee receives a claim form and it is pre-populated with an amount based on the settlement administrator’s database, the franchisee can either:

• Accept that amount and submit the claim on that basis
• Reach out to the settlement administrator and ask for further information and try to work with the administrator to get to the right number.

If a franchisee receives the form in the mail, but it is not prepopulated with an amount, then the franchisee would presumably just submit their own number, which the administrator may accept or may ask for more documentation/evidence about after receipt.

If a franchisee does not receive a claim form by the middle of January, contact the Class Administrator by:

• Calling the toll-free number: 1-800-625-6440
• Writing to: Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement, P.O. Box 2530, Portland, OR 97208-2530
• Emailing: info@PaymentCardSettlement.com

NAASF will continue to keep you updated on this front.