Credit Card Foreign Transaction Fee Lawsuit Details are Here!

by Luke February 23, 2007

Topic(s): Credit Cards,Features,Foreign Transaction Fees,Lawsuits,Miscellaneous

After waiting months I can finally estimate how much money I’ll be earning from a settlement that has been reached between several major credit card companies and consumers.

The lawsuit is about the price cardholders of Visa-, MasterCard-, or Diners Club-branded payment cards were charged to make transactions in a foreign currency, or with a foreign merchant, between February 1, 1996 and November 8, 2006. Plaintiffs challenge how the prices of credit and debit/ATM card foreign transactions were set and disclosed, including claims that Visa, MasterCard, their member banks, and Diners Club conspired to set and conceal fees, typically of 1-3% of foreign transactions, and that Visa and MasterCard inflated their base exchange rates before applying these fees. The Defendants include Visa, MasterCard, Diners Club, Bank of America, Bank One/First USA, Chase, Citibank, MBNA, HSBC/Household, and Washington Mutual/Providian. They deny the Plaintiffs’ claims and say they have done nothing wrong, improper, or unlawful. [read more...]

Many of us should start receiving claim forms in the mail, but if you can’t wait for yours to come, you can download a claim form here [.pdf file].

CCFSettlement.com will also allow you to submit claim forms online.

Here are a few important items from the FAQ that stood out to me:

Do I need to list the dates of my foreign transactions?

No. However, you must separately total up your transactions for the period 02/01/96 to 12/31/96, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 1/1/2006 to 11/8/06, and list the totals for each period in the appropriate space on the claim form.

Will my claim be audited?

All claims are subject to audit. Please keep proof of your eligible transactions until your claim has been processed. By submitting a claim, you authorize your bank and the settlement administrator to provide and share information to verify your status or claims.

May I submit more than one claim?

No, you must submit all claims you have at the same time. You may, however, attach additional pages to your claim form if all of your transactions do not fit on one form. Do not submit more than one claim form.

How will the amount of my refund be determined?

If you are eligible for a refund, the amount of the refund will depend on the bank that issued your credit and/or debit/ATM card, the dollar amount of your foreign transaction fees (apart from any alleged increase in base exchange rates), the amount of money available to pay claims and the number and total dollar value of all valid claims filed. You might get only a partial refund, or, in some circumstances, your claim might be adjusted upwards.

Who will determine the amount to be refunded to me?

A third party administrator will review all claims and determine the refund amounts.

This is an important settlement for all those who have traveled internationally and used a credit card anytime over the last 10 years, and I’d encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity to recoup some of those fees.

Finally, I’ll be setting up sections in the forum so that we can discuss the lawsuit outcomes further, keep tabs on what other people are earning, and to answer questions about how to file claims. Sharing information about credit card foreign transaction fees is one of the main reasons I setup this site, so this is a great day for me…and hopefully just the beginning!

Comments (38)

38 Comments to "Credit Card Foreign Transaction Fee Lawsuit Details are Here!"

on 24 Feb 2007 at 7:36 am Posted by: Marlene

What about a recent purchase just two weeks ago and late December 2006?

Thanks
on 24 Feb 2007 at 10:04 am Posted by: Luke

Transactions should have been made between February 1, 1996 and November 8, 2006.
on 09 Mar 2007 at 11:12 pm Posted by: Kirk J Larson

I was over seas from 1999 to 2004 the entire time with only short visits back to the states. I had an American Express Card and the others I don’t know. I had heard that American Express was also subject to this error, but you don’t have it listed, WHY?
on 12 Mar 2007 at 12:17 pm Posted by: Gary Kaney

I just learned about this lawsuit and have a question about obtaining records from Mastercard and Visa. I have lived in Guatemala for 5 years and buy everything via credit card and do all my bill pay/financing on line. I receive no paper statements and have not printed any statements in 5 years. Since statements on-ling only go back 9-12 months, how do I reconstruct the totals of foreign transaction fees for the past 5 years. Since I pay between $12-$15 a month in fees, my charges are substancial. Any advise in how to recoup my past charges? Obviously the Credit Card companines have no vested interest in helping their customers to recoup these fees and are not cooperating.
Gary Kaney
on 17 Mar 2007 at 1:03 pm Posted by: RICK_PERRY

I don’t think AMERICAN EXPRESS settled this case, and has been sued in the past and already made changes to their disclosures.

Gary, I think you’re out of luck with out old statements. The way I read it you have to have em to recoupe fees. You’ll probably just have to call the card companes and ask them to send to you statements. I am in the same boat!

What I am going to do is just base my amount on the amount I paid to my credit cards. This should be accurate becuase I know which cards I used when I was traveling and recorded all the amounts I paid in my check book.

Anybody have othre thoughts for this?
on 17 Mar 2007 at 1:04 pm Posted by: RICK_PERRY

Luke, thanku for posting these details by the way. I will post my comments in teh forum too.
on 21 Mar 2007 at 12:43 am Posted by: Mike Steffee

Citibank has been very cooperative. I sent them an e-mail asking for my account statements back to 1996 and received a response within 20 minutes. They told me their records only went back to 2000, which was a lot better then my own records, and said it would take about 15 days to get me the information. The next thing I know, the statements were arriving in the mail with 7 days.
on 21 Mar 2007 at 12:46 am Posted by: Mike Steffee

I forgot to add one last piece of information. Citibank did all this for free…
on 08 May 2007 at 9:54 am Posted by: Gary Kaney

I did call Citibank and Diners Club and got my records for the past 7 years…no fee charged for send the records to me. I’m a little confused by this lawsuit. Does this mean that all charges after Nov.2006 are legal and appropiate? In reviewing the charges, it is apparent that Citibank hid the 3% charges for several years in the cost of the item purchased. Am I assume I deduct 3% of each charged item for those periods of time in order to determine the real cost and possible rebate? Is there a phone number where someone can call and ask more questions?
Thanks for all your help
gary kaney
Antigua, Guatemala
on 29 Jun 2007 at 11:28 am Posted by: Eric Schwanka

I was searching online for some advice as to whether I should bother trying to recoup my losses. I used a credit card and ATM heavily during the 4 years I lived overseas. I estimate my total billing amount to equal about $15,000. http://biyts.info/credit_card_fees.html which I also found by looking for advice, really put it into perspective for me. According to the calculations on that site the maximum, I could expect to get is $25!!!!! I dont think I am going to bother for that money especially since I may be perpetuating a bad system.

Try the calculations yourself, I was pretty shocked.
on 01 Dec 2007 at 9:36 pm Posted by: Chris Statile

So the attorney’s are getting $313,000,000 plus $5,000,000 in exspenses while the consumers get maybe $25 or $100 each. SOUND FAIR? How much work do you think they actually did? Even at the highest billing rates this is exacally what’s wrong with our current legal system. Maybe the attorneys should go through all the billing records of all the consumers for the past 10 years if they want to collect their contingency fees. Now that would be fair.
on 05 Dec 2007 at 11:03 am Posted by: Lance Heckerman

The settlement is ridiculous. In the filed lawsuit, Visa & Mastercard collected $500 Million & $200 Million in criminally fraudulent overcharges. We are only settling for less than half of what they owe? This is what is wrong with these class actions. The lawyers get their money and we get it in the rear. This is a civil suit and to my knowledge no criminal charges have been brought, which is very interesting. Criminal fraud has taken place and the greedy corporate fat cats get off with a slap on the hand. Where the hell is the accountability?
on 05 Dec 2007 at 12:06 pm Posted by: Lance Heckerman

The California Penal code states:

PENAL CODE
SECTION 182-185
182. (a) If two or more persons conspire:
(1) To commit any crime.
(2) Falsely and maliciously to indict another for any crime, or to
procure another to be charged or arrested for any crime.
(3) Falsely to move or maintain any suit, action, or proceeding.
(4) [b]To cheat and defraud any person of any property[/b], by any means which are in themselves criminal, [b] or to obtain money or property by false pretenses [/b]or by false promises with fraudulent intent not to
perform those promises.

The statement “to obtain money or property by false pretenses” applies here. When the card companies charged for a currency conversion that never took place, they are guilty of criminal fraud if they did this knowingly. I have had a number of folks telling me that what Visa and Mastercard did is not a criminal act and just billing errors. According to the current law, Visa and Mastercard committed the criminal act of conspiracy to defraud their customers. Am I citing the law correctly in this case? There is enough evidence to warrant an investigation to determine if they knowingly committed fraud and identify the individual conspirators for possible criminal prosecution.
on 15 Dec 2007 at 3:27 pm Posted by: J. Rossetter

How do I find out if we qualify for any part of this settlement. We were in Europe for 7 weeks June-July 1997, again in June/July 2005 and Japan April 2006. Our daughter has been done extensive foreign travel – Bangladesh, Italy, Japan and the Guatemalen Islands over the last 4 years. Where do we find out more information to determine if we have arefund coming and how to proceed to gain it? Thank you!
on 19 Dec 2007 at 12:03 pm Posted by: Kent

I’ve had extensive travel outside the U.S. during that period and have my records, so I looked at the third option that they recommended would give me the best return. The sticking point, however, is that they want all of my bank and credit card names and ACCOUNT NUMBERS! Is this a scam? How do I verify that this as a legitimate operation. I can understand that they might want to see proof, if I’m audited, but any good attorney should know better than to tell people to send such information to unsolicited individuals that you don’t know!
on 20 Dec 2007 at 7:04 pm Posted by: Jeff

This is a comment re: the link to http://biyts.info/credit_card_fees.html

I went there and was surprised that it said I could only get a max of about $100. I looked at the math several times and then realized what was (in my opinion) wrong with it.

The person writing that page (which seems to be a site dedicated to being against class actions, but that doesn’t make the argument wrong) says the following. The amount of settlement from the credit card companies is only enough to cover 9% of what they supposedly made off of poorly disclosed fees.

So if you assume that every person claimed everything they may be entitled to, each person would only be able to get 9% of what they were due.

The person then takes an example healthy refund and multiplies it by 0.09 and gets the $50-150 refund. Now there is example is someone who spends a *lot* overseas.

I think it is a false assumption that people will claim (via the last form) the full amount of every overseas charge. Many people will discard the form, think it a scam, or take the $25 refund.

My point is that if the total claims are less than $338 million or so, I expect claimants will get their full claimed refund, perhaps minus the attorney’s fees (it’s not clear to me if unclaimed fund $s will offset the fees or not).

So if you are trying to decide what kind of claim to make (as I am), treat the warning above with due caution. If you agree that class actions are inherently bad (I do not), that’s a separate issue.

Oh and by the way, if anyone has the email addresses for Citibank or other issuers, posting them would be appreciated. I can only find phone #s so far, and I’d rather not wait on hold.
on 21 Dec 2007 at 6:14 pm Posted by: michael

I spent almost a full year over 2001-2002 in England while going to school..I used my ATM master card every day+capital one card!! lunch, school, bus, train everything..so I called my bank and ordered the records today(at fist they said they had no records..(then they magically found them) hmmm..it will cost me 76 dollars to get those records…I can only hope that I will get some of that back…I’m willing to submit and find out!! even after what I have read above..wish me luck??
on 17 Jan 2008 at 2:44 pm Posted by: Marianne

Well, now I don’t know what to do! The prospect of found money is very nice (esp since we lived overseas and had tons of transactions in the time period)…even if it is low it is still money that we don’t have and could surely use. But I don’t like the idea of giving out account numbers. Why in the world do they need that? To verify that you actually did have a credit card and aren’t attempting to scam them? I don’t know.
on 26 Feb 2008 at 1:20 pm Posted by: ABC

michael, I think you’re entitled in the settlement to obtain required records free of charge. Mention the litigation settlement as your reason for requesting the records.
on 03 Mar 2008 at 4:10 am Posted by: Vesselin

Does this apply only to US citizens – or to the citizens of any country that have used one of these credit cards, if they have used the card outside of their country of residence?
on 17 Mar 2008 at 4:14 pm Posted by: Anonymous

So does anyone know when we are going to get our money back after you sumit your claims??? Dates perhaps…just wondering
on 19 Mar 2008 at 7:47 am Posted by: Shari

I completed my forms long ago. When will the checks be sent out? Does any one have payout dates?

Thanks!
on 10 Apr 2008 at 12:35 pm Posted by: Jenny

I, too, completed these forms a long time ago. Any updates?
on 15 Apr 2008 at 6:31 pm Posted by: Roberta Green

I’ve probably had 10 credit cards since 1996 (All Visa or Master Card). Some got reissued due to frauds. I don’t have the account number of old cards. If I call the major credit card issuing banks will they tell me the numbers of the credit cards I’ve had in the past???? Is there any other way to get my credit card history?
on 09 May 2008 at 2:15 am Posted by: Gary

I have lived oversaes since 1991. My claim is somewhere in the area of $3600 ($1000/month x 120 months x 3% = $3600). Do I need to fear retribution from my credit card company if we win this lawsuit? Could they decide to cancel my card “for no reason”?
on 09 Jul 2008 at 10:22 am Posted by: Claire

just got off the phone with bank of america…they are clueless of this situation…but were very helpful with the suggestion of doing an internet search and voila, here you are…if you could please let me know when i can expect any monies from this lawsuit…my children play ice hockey so for the past 10 years we have traveled to and from canada dozens of times…when i submitted the completed forms, there was no indication of a time frame…is the lawsuit even completed??? any ideas???
on 23 Jul 2008 at 9:52 am Posted by: Steve

I mailed in the forms months ago, as did Shari and Jenny. So far nothing. Anyone know when to look for a check?

Steve
on 10 Aug 2008 at 4:14 pm Posted by: Sean

I mailed in my claim forms sometime around January and I still haven’t heard anything, any news?

Sean
http://www.accessrm.com
on 27 Oct 2008 at 7:40 pm Posted by: Casey

Just updating the blog. It’s the end of October and I have not had any notification yet. I submitted my claim, I think, in January. Doesn’t sound like anyone has heard anything yet.

Cheers.
on 31 Oct 2008 at 5:00 pm Posted by: Julie

I have a Citibank Mastercard. Why do they still charge Foregin Transaction fee now after the settlement? When I called them, I was told that they just start this charge about 6 months ago. They actually charge more than before. Does this Settlement help to remove the charge?

Thanks
on 04 Jan 2009 at 7:02 am Posted by: Charles Dombeck

It is now 2009.Has anyone heard anything about the settlement or are they just hoping everyone dies and the lawyers get it all.Thank you.
on 01 Feb 2009 at 2:32 pm Posted by: Sherry

I was wondering the same thing myself. I have heard nothing. I was beginning to think that they had lost my claim…but I do have a return receipt for my submission dated 6/2/08.

Any news anyone? Has anyone received payment?
Thanks.
on 04 Feb 2009 at 9:15 am Posted by: Tim

At the top of this page there is a link to ccfsettlment.com. It will give you the status of the suit & payments.
on 24 Feb 2009 at 3:57 pm Posted by: Dave

For those of you asking “when”, here’s an excerpt from the ccfsettlement website:

When will I get my refund?
Refunds will be paid after the Court finally approves the settlement, and approves any award of attorneys’ fees, awards to the class representatives, and allocation of the settlement fund among Settlement Damages Class members, and any appeals related to that approval are resolved. It is possible that this could take several months, or, if appeals are filed, several years. You may want to check this website from time to time for updates.

In other words, don’t hold your breath.
on 07 Mar 2009 at 10:54 am Posted by: Carl

March 7 2009 and still waiting. I expect all claims to get lost in the current “noise.”
on 18 Feb 2010 at 11:18 am Posted by: Tony

I believe the question is “WHEN” will we receive our monies ?/
on 21 Feb 2010 at 12:13 pm Posted by: Hazel

I agree with Tony. When will a decision be made about the amount of money we will each receive and when will we receive it?

Thank you
on 12 Jul 2010 at 3:39 pm Posted by: Fred

Still not a word from anyone about the outcome of our money?

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