Case Details

Year Initiated/Committed

2003

Year Resolved

2008

Settlement Amount

$11.6 million payment, $600,000 attorneys fees

Court

Circuit Court of Ohio County

Docket Number

03-C-551

Lead State

WV

Participating States

WV

Defendant(s)

Visa USA, Inc.

Case Description

The State sued Visa and Mastercard claiming the companies used their market power in general credit cards to force merchants to accept their branded debit cards. The high cost of accepting the branded debit cards forced retailers to charge consumers more for goods purchased. As a settlement, Visa paid $9.3 million and MasterCard paid $2.3 million to state, which was used to fund a tax holiday on Energy Star products, and a total of $600,000 to the Attorney General’s revolving fund.