Merchants

Alibaba Throws the Spotlight on Fake Reviews

A lawsuit filed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is shining a light on the fake reviews and purchases on its websites. China’s biggest e-commerce operator sued Shatui.com, which allegedly links merchants with people willing to falsify purchases and write positive comments that can drive sellers up Alibaba’s rankings. The suit in Hangzhou West Lake District People’s Court is seeking 2.16 million …


‘Glaring’ Conflict Doomed $7.25 Billion Visa/MasterCard Settlement

The biggest money-damages antitrust settlement in U.S. history died Thursday at the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals. Not because of last year’s scandal surrounding leaks to a onetime MasterCard lawyer since charged with fraud, but because the agreement between credit card giants MasterCard, Visa and the merchants suing them for inflating certain fees was fundamentally unfair to some of the retailers. …


Appeals Court Nixes $7.25B Credit Card Swipe Fee Settlement

A $7.25 billion settlement between merchants and Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. over credit card transaction fees was rejected Thursday by a federal appeals court, a ruling praised by a retail trade association as a victory for consumers. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the 12 million merchants covered by the antitrust class action were inadequately represented by law …


Federal Court Rejects Visa and Mastercard Class Action Settlements

In a unanimous ruling on Thursday, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected a settlement agreement between retailers and credit card issuers. Millions of retailers had reached a $7.25 billion antitrust settlement [NYT report] with Visa USA and MasterCard International [corporate websites] in 2013. However, after determining that some of …


Merchants Score Victory Over Visa and MasterCard as Court Tosses $7.25bn Interchange Settlement

Merchants score victory over Visa and MasterCard as court tosses $7.25bn interchange settlement In a win for merchants, a US federal appeals court has killed off a $7.25 billion class action settlement over interchange fees between millions of retailers and Visa and MasterCard. The huge settlement over claims that the card schemes had improperly fixed credit and debit card swipe fees was agreed …


Credit Card Industry Challenged as Fraud Rises Significantly at EMV-capable Merchants

by Avivah Litan | March 14, 2016 | Submit a Comment In a little noticed but highly significant event, two small Florida merchants are lead plaintiffs in a potential class action suing the financial services industry for conspiring to get the merchants to eat more fraud. The merchants point out that their fraud rates and charges have risen more than twenty times since the October 2015 EMV …