Berger & Montague, P.C. and Coughlin, Stoia, Geller, Rudman & Robbins LLP, Co-Lead and Co-Class Counsel for the plaintiffs in the In re Currency Conversion Fee Antitrust Litigation class action suit, announced the following:
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK SUMMARY NOTICE OF SETTLEMENT OF CLASS ACTION
TO: ALL PERSONS AND ENTITIES WHO WERE VISA-, MASTERCARD- AND DINERS CLUB- BRANDED CREDIT AND DEBIT/ATM CARDHOLDERS AND MADE A FOREIGN TRANSACTION BETWEEN FEBRUARY 1, 1996 AND NOVEMBER 8, 2006:
If potential class members (individuals, companies, and agencies) used a Visa or MasterCard credit or debit/ATM card, or a Diners Club credit card (including charge cards) to make a foreign transaction between February 1, 1996 and November 8, 2006, they could get a refund from a class action settlement. The settlement applies to those persons or entities even if they did not make a foreign transaction, and they will benefit from it.
The lawsuit (called In re Currency Conversion Fee Antitrust Litigation) claims that Visa, MasterCard, their member banks, and Diners Club conspired to set and hide the price of foreign transactions (including fees, typically 1-3%) in violation of federal and state law, and that Visa and MasterCard inflated their base exchange rates before applying these fees. The Defendants (Visa, MasterCard, Bank of America, Bank One/First USA, Chase, Citibank, Diners Club, HSBC/Household, MBNA and Washington Mutual/Providian) deny these claims.
The settlement provides $336,000,000 to pay claims, the costs of administering the settlement and notice, and court-awarded attorneys' fees (up to 27.5% of the estimated $313,000,000 expected to remain in the settlement fund after deducting costs for administration and notice, plus interest and expenses) and awards for the class representatives. The Defendants also agree to certain disclosure-related practices. If approved, the settlement will bind class members. If persons and entities are eligible to make a claim and do not opt out, they will release all claims related to any foreign transaction, or the subject matters of the lawsuit, against the Defendants, the member banks, and related entities and individuals. Claims in other cases involving foreign transactions will also be extinguished, but they can still make a claim here, if eligible for a refund. Settlement agreements have also been signed in some of these other cases. These agreements include payment of fees and expenses to attorneys, some of whom have represented the Plaintiff in Schwartz v. Visa (CA). These payments will not reduce the $336,000,000 settlement.
Class members do not need to go to court but may if they want to. Class members may also hire an attorney, at their own cost, if they want to. The court hearing to decide whether to approve the settlement is on March 31, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 500 Pearl Street, New York, NY, 10007-1581. If class members plan to go, they are advised to check with the court to confirm the time and date.
All class members who made a foreign transaction with a Visa, MasterCard, or Diners Club credit or debit/ATM card between February 1, 1996 and November 8, 2006 are eligible for a refund. The amount of the refund will depend on which claim form is chosen, the amount of total claims, the dollar value of the claim, the bank that issued their card, and the amount of money available to pay claims. Class members might only get a partial refund.
Class members also have other options. They may:
-- Object. Class members must file a written objection and proof of class membership with the court. They do not have to go to court or hire an attorney. But can if they want to, at their own cost. The deadline is February 14, 2008.
-- Opt out. If class members are eligible for a refund from the settlement but do not want one, and they want to keep their right to sue for money, they must opt out by sending the opt-out form letter (available at: www.ccfsettlement.com/, or by calling: 1-800-945-9890) to: P. O. Box 280, Philadelphia, PA 19105. If they opt out, they cannot get money from the settlement. Class members cannot opt out of the part of the settlement involving agreed disclosure-related practices. The deadline is February 14, 2008.
This notice is only a summary. For answers to common questions and more information, including the amounts of transaction fees involved, visit: http://www.ccfsettlement.com/. For recorded information, call: 1-800-945-9890.
To ask for a refund, class members must file a claim for a refund online at: www.ccfsettlement.com/. Or file by mail (get a claim form at http://www.ccfsettlement.com/, or by calling 1-800-945-9890). The deadline is May 30, 2008. - Source: Berger & Montague, P.C.; Coughlin, Stoia, Geller, Rudman & Robbins LLP
re: royal rip-off
To whom this may concern:
Hello. This is information letting you know that my Mother was bludgened by major Credit-Card Co.s' They each had charged in excess of over $3,000 total.
Appearantly,from what I see..they had their charges Reversed/charge-backs,not one but three of these CC's.
My Mother is 84 years old and this kind of sloppy doings left a mark on my Mother and I re-paid the full amount.
It is a known 'secret' that the CC companies all have the same address?
Our bank said they had reverse in payments..
We could not understand it.
Talking to the CC people is like talking to a razor blade,very un-professional and un-kind.
WE do not know what to do tho we sure would like to have a settlement in our favor.Three Thousand Dollars and mental destress.
Anything?
Yours Truly,
Philip & Iola Hopkins
morningstar@nts-online.net