Visa Mastercard Settlement Payout Date: Second Round Approved, Payments Rolling From September 2026
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AI Legal Assistant · free · answers in seconds · general information, not legal advice
Yes, the $5.5 billion Visa/Mastercard interchange fund is paying — but only to businesses that filed a claim, and only in partial installments. A first round went to about 598,000 merchants after the court's October 2025 approval. A second round was approved on June 15, 2026 and scheduled to be paid on a rolling basis from September 2026. Consumers who simply used a card are not in this settlement. The case itself is covered on our Visa and Mastercard settlement page; this page is only about the money.
Editorially Reviewed — Content reviewed for accuracy using published legal research, government data, and verified court records. See our methodology
Reviewed by Leonard Goldberg, Editor · Last updated
Is the Visa Mastercard Settlement Paying Right Now?
Yes — a first partial round has been paid and a second was approved. If you searched for the visa mastercard settlement payout date (or the visa mastercard settlement payment date), here is the short version, from the court filings in the payment card case:
Round one: approved in October 2025. Epiq, the court-appointed administrator, reports 598,899 claims and $418,914,563.98 in that round as of September 30, 2026.
Round two: class counsel asked for it on May 26, 2026; the official site states the court approved it on June 15, 2026 and that payments would be issued on a rolling basis in September 2026. The quarterly report filed October 9, 2026 lists 90,441 claims and $212,810,018.92 for the second distribution as of September 30, 2026.
Neither round is the full award. Both are deliberately conservative partial payments, with more to come once appeals and disputes end.
Case Details
The fund belongs to In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 1720, No. 1:05-md-01720 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, before Judge Brian M. Cogan, with Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Marutollo overseeing claims-administration reporting. The administrator is Epiq Class Action & Claims Solutions, Inc. The only official website is PaymentCardSettlement.com, where payments and claim status appear in the Merchant Portal.
Status: Paying Out in Partial Rounds
The reason is a backlog, not a lack of money. At the same date, 331,299 taxpayer IDs (other than conflicts) sat in the Special Master's queue, 12,036 sales-data submissions were pending and 2,540 research requests were open. Payments to those claims wait until their disputes are decided.
A larger block is held back for two appeals over who counts as the class member when a merchant took cards through a payment facilitator (such as Square) or sold branded fuel. The Second Circuit upheld the district court on May 4, 2026; rehearing petitions were filed May 15 and May 18, 2026, and the losing side may still seek Supreme Court review.
Who Gets Paid — and Who Does Not
Only businesses. The class is U.S. businesses that accepted Visa or Mastercard cards between January 1, 2004 and January 25, 2019. Shoppers who paid with a card are not class members and get nothing from this fund.
Nobody is paid automatically. A merchant had to file a claim by the February 2025 deadline. Epiq mailed claim forms to about 18.6 million merchants, but a form in the mail was never a payment.
Who was in the partial rounds: merchants that accepted Epiq's estimate of their interchange fees and whose claims are not tied up in appeals, ownership or valuation disputes, name mismatches or audits — and whose partial payment would be at least $5.00. Round two added more than 75,000 merchants whose business-name mismatch had been cleared and 8,400 whose data flags had been cleared. If you are still disputing your fees, you are not paid yet; that is expected, not a rejection.
How Much Each Merchant Gets
What the quarterly report lists (not all of it is necessarily paid yet): round one about $418.9 million across 598,899 claims; round two $212,810,018.92 across 90,441 claims, both as of September 30, 2026. The May 26, 2026 motion had estimated round two at more than $125 million for the name-mismatch group and more than $56 million for the data-flag group, at least $182 million together.
What is still owed: Epiq used a deliberately conservative formula, so it describes these payments as “likely far lower” than the final pro rata value. After the appeals and disputes end, it plans a final calculation and supplemental payments to merchants paid only a portion. No court filing gives a per-merchant figure for that, and anyone quoting one is guessing. Your own payable amount is shown in the Merchant Portal.
How cases like this one end
Our copy of the federal courts’ own case database covers 6,924 antitrust casesclosed in U.S. federal district courts between 2015 and 2026, 37.3% of them filed as class actions:
- 19.1% ended in a settlement recorded by the court. Another 14.5% were dismissed voluntarily, which often follows a private settlement — so the real settlement share sits between 19.1% and 33.6%.
- 11.4% were decided on a motion before any trial.
- 1 in 119 reached a trial (0.8%), after a median of 37.1 months.
- Median time from filing to the end of the case: 11.9 months.
- Almost none record a money award in this data (33 of 6,924), and the recorded figures are capped, so we do not publish an average.
These are base rates for this type of case (federal antitrust cases) — not a prediction about this lawsuit, and not legal advice. Source: Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (civil), analysed by Settlement Insight. Cases heard in state courts are not included.
Visa Mastercard Payout Timeline
- 1
February 2025 — Claim Deadline
Last day for merchants to file. Claim forms had gone to about 18.6 million merchants.
- 2
October 2025 — First Partial Round Approved
The court approves an initial partial distribution, planned at $426,063,670.16. Merchants choose check, direct deposit or a digital option in the Merchant Portal.
- 3
May 4, 2026 — Appeals Court Rules
The Second Circuit upholds the class-membership rulings on payment facilitators and branded fuel sellers. Rehearing petitions follow on May 15 and May 18, 2026.
- 4
May 26, 2026 — Second Round Requested
Class counsel ask to pay 84,174 more claims at least $182 million. Epiq reports over $414 million already sent in round one.
- 5
June 15 to September 2026 — Second Round Approved, Rolling Out
Approved June 15, 2026, per the official site; payments go out on a rolling basis in September 2026. The quarterly report lists 90,441 claims and $212,810,018.92 for this round as of September 30, 2026; it does not say how much has been paid.
- 6
January 8, 2027 — Next Public Report
Deadline set on October 9, 2026 for class counsel's next quarterly report on claims and payments. A third partial round is planned once the appeals end; no date has been set.
Three Things to Watch For
Billions still sitting in the fund attract imitators. These are the traps documented in this case:
Filers who charge upfront for “your share”
The court record names a company, Pacific Travel & Services, that asked businesses for advance payment; its claims were withdrawn after a court order. Epiq states that you do not have to pay anyone to file. Nobody legitimate needs a fee to release a payment.
Lookalike sites and payment emails
Real notices point to PaymentCardSettlement.com and the email address info@paymentcardsettlement.com, and the official phone line is 1-800-625-6440. An email linking elsewhere to “confirm bank details” is a phishing attempt. Log in to the Merchant Portal by typing the address yourself.
Claim buyers and slow third-party filers
Some companies offer to buy your claim or file it for a share. Class members have told Epiq they could not get responses from filing companies they signed with. Read the contract and percentage carefully, and check your own claim status directly with Epiq.
Visa Mastercard Payout — Questions People Actually Ask
What is the Visa Mastercard settlement payout date?
There is no single date, because the fund pays in rounds. Round one followed the court's October 2025 approval. Round two was approved June 15, 2026 and, per the official site, to be paid on a rolling basis in September 2026. A third partial round and later supplemental payments depend on the appeals ending; no date has been set as of October 2026.
What is the visa mastercard payment card settlement payout date for my business?
Your own status is in the Merchant Portal at PaymentCardSettlement.com. Epiq updates it to show whether your claim is in a partial round and the amount, and emails registrants to choose a payment method. If your claim is not in a round, the portal or Epiq (1-800-625-6440) can tell you what is still open, such as a fee dispute or a name mismatch.
How much will I get from payment card interchange fee settlement?
It depends entirely on the interchange fees your business paid. Payments are a pro rata share of the fund, measured mainly on Visa transactions. The current payments are partial and, by Epiq's own description, likely far lower than the final value. No official per-merchant estimate exists for the rest.
How is the money paid — check, direct deposit or something else?
Merchants choose in the Merchant Portal: mailed check, direct deposit or certain digital payment options. Registrants who make no choice get a paper check by mail for each claim.
I am a consumer. Do I get anything?
No. The class is businesses that accepted Visa or Mastercard cards between January 1, 2004 and January 25, 2019. Paying with a card as a shopper does not make you a class member, and a site offering consumers a “Visa Mastercard refund” is not this settlement.
My check is lost or I never cashed it. What now?
Contact Epiq through the official site, at info@paymentcardsettlement.com or 1-800-625-6440, and ask for a reissue. Epiq's report counts claims as notified “regardless of whether the payment was ultimately negotiated,” so uncashed payments are tracked. The filings we reviewed do not publish a cash-by deadline; follow the date printed on your check.
What do visa mastercard settlement payout date reddit threads show?
Small-business owners on Reddit describe receiving the email and the payment, or waiting with a claim still under review. Those posts are useful as experience reports, not as proof of amounts or dates. The figures on this page come from Epiq's court filings.
When to expect a settlement payment if I was left out of both rounds?
Only after your specific problem is resolved, or after the appeals end. Epiq and class counsel plan to recommend a third partial round once the appeals are denied. The next public progress report is due January 8, 2027.
Separate from this case: were you injured in the last 2 years?
Class-action payouts are fixed amounts through an administrator. A personal injury claim is a different case — and often worth far more. Free estimate, no obligation.
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