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Payments Glossary · Cases & Collapses

The 2026 Visa/Mastercard Injunctive Settlement

Also called Rule 23(b)(2) settlement, swipe fee settlement 2026, interchange settlement

The forward-looking rules and rates settlement that received preliminary approval in June 2026 and is under objection; nothing has changed yet.

What it is

This is the Rule 23(b)(2) injunctive relief settlement in MDL 1720, and its status is the most important thing about it. It received preliminary approval in June 2026 from Judge Brian Cogan, who indicated he was likely to eventually grant final approval and described the deal as fair, reasonable and adequate. Preliminary approval is not final approval. The class notice and objection period is running, and final approval was expected late 2026 into 2027. Reported terms of the settlement include an approximately 10 basis point reduction in the average effective credit interchange rate for five years, a five-year freeze of posted commercial, premium consumer and standard consumer rates at March 31, 2025 levels, and an eight-year cap of 1.25 percent on standard consumer credit. On rules: honor-all-cards would be replaced with three acceptance tiers, standard consumer, premium consumer and commercial, allowing a merchant to decline an entire tier while requiring acceptance of all cards within any tier it accepts. Surcharging would be permitted at brand level or product level but not both, capped at 3 percent or actual cost of acceptance, whichever is lower, with the old effective 1 percent ceiling for merchants that also accept American Express removed. Selective digital wallet acceptance would be permitted, and merchants could form buying groups to negotiate directly with the networks. Implementation is reported to begin within 60 days of approval for rule changes, with rate changes landing on the April and October interchange release cycles. Note that the exact preliminary approval date is reported inconsistently as June 9 or June 10, 2026.

Why it matters to your business

Nothing on your statement changes today because of this settlement. If a salesperson is using it to create urgency, that is a reason to slow down, not to sign. What you can do now is make sure you are positioned to receive any benefit if and when it arrives. That means interchange plus pricing with a stated markup, so a network-level rate change flows to you automatically rather than improving someone else's margin. This is education, not legal advice. The settlement has preliminary approval only, is under objection, and its terms may change before final approval or on appeal.

Where it gets contested

The opposition is substantial and organized. The National Retail Federation, NACS, the Restaurant Law Center and Walmart, which filed an objection in December 2025, remain opposed. NACS has said it will appeal to the Second Circuit if final approval issues. Analysts quoted in trade coverage have put full resolution as far out as 2029. On the economics, the 10 basis point reduction applies to the average effective rate across a portfolio of transactions, not to any individual merchant's line item. Independent analysis has been blunt that the actual reduction will vary by card type, industry and transaction category, and that savings will not automatically reach merchant statements because processors sitting between merchants and networks control pass-through. That is the real fight for a small business, and it has nothing to do with the court. On tiered or flat-rate pricing, a network-level interchange cut is invisible and the processor keeps it. On interchange plus, it flows through automatically. Tier declining is likewise not a small business tool yet. It is not live, and even after approval declining premium consumer cards is commercially dangerous for most SMBs because premium consumer cards are a large share of card-present spend.

How to check it yourself

Ask your processor one question in writing: if network interchange rates fall, does my price fall automatically? On interchange plus the answer is yes and they can show you the markup. On flat rate the honest answer is no.

Receipts

Claims above that are checkable, with where to check them. Published so you do not have to take anyone's word for it.