Used a Cash Machine Since 2007? You Could Be Owed a Share of Visa and Mastercard's $167.5M Settlement

The surcharge that flashes up before you take out cash at a corner shop or a petrol station averaged $3.22 (£2.42) in Bankrate's 2025 survey, easy to wave through without a second thought. Those small, forgettable charges are now the basis of a proposed payout worth $167.5 million (£125.6 million), and the window to claim a piece of it is open.

Visa and Mastercard have agreed to settle a long-running antitrust case brought on behalf of American cardholders who paid fees at independent, non-bank cash machines.

Under the proposed deal, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia as Burke v. Visa Inc. and subject to final approval on 17 February 2027, Visa would pay $88.8 million (£66.6 million) and Mastercard $78.7 million (£59 million), before Judge Richard J. Leon. Neither company admits wrongdoing.

Anyone in the United States charged an access fee at a cash machine not owned by a bank, between 24 October 2007 and 14 August 2026, may be entitled to a share, provided their own bank did not fully refund the charge. That reach back to 2007 is what makes the class so vast. Court filings point to millions of consumers, and the agreement lets either company withdraw if 6,000,000 potential members opt out.

Who Qualifies for the ATM Settlement

The rules are tighter than the headline figure suggests. The withdrawal must have been cash taken from a deposit account, using an ATM card or a PIN-linked debit card, at a machine run by an independent operator rather than a bank. Think of the standalone terminals in convenience stores, bars, and grocery shops, not the machines inside a bank branch.

Several familiar transactions fall outside the net. Credit card cash advances do not count, nor do prepaid cards, and any surcharge a bank already reimbursed is excluded. Alongside the nationwide group, separate statewide claims cover people in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Michigan.

How much a single claim pays is still unknown. The fund is divided pro rata, carved up by how many valid claims arrive and how many qualifying withdrawals each person records. It shrinks first through taxes, costs, up to $3 million (£2.3 million) in administration expenses, and service awards of up to $17,500 (£13,125) for the lead plaintiffs. Class counsel will also ask the court for fees of up to 30% of the fund, roughly $50.25 million (£37.7 million). The more people who file, the thinner each slice.

What the Visa and Mastercard Settlement Alleged

At its core, the case is about competition that cardholders say never happened. Plaintiffs argued that Visa and Mastercard imposed network rules barring independent operators from offering cheaper withdrawals when a rival, lower-cost network could have carried the transaction. The result, the complaint said, was an artificial floor under fees nationwide, in breach of the Sherman Antitrust Act and four states' antitrust laws.

The sheer length of the fight explains why the eligibility window stretches back nearly two decades. Filed in 2011, the case saw Judge Leon certify the consumer classes in 2021. Visa and Mastercard appealed, the D.C. Circuit upheld certification in 2023, and in 2024 the Supreme Court declined to intervene, sending the dispute back to settle. A related consumer case over fees at bank-operated machines, Mackmin v. Visa, ended in a separate $197.5 million (£148.1 million) deal in June 2025.

Filing does not require a drawer full of old receipts. Claimants submit a form through the official settlement website or by post to the administrator, A.B. Data, declaring under penalty of perjury that they paid an unreimbursed fee and estimating how many. Proof can be requested later, and payment comes by PayPal, virtual debit card, or cheque. Claims close on 10 February 2027 (postmarked that day, if filing by post), with the final approval hearing a week later.

The date most likely to catch people out comes sooner. Anyone who wants to keep the right to bring their own claim, or to object to the terms, must say so in writing by 11 December 2026. Do nothing and, if the court approves the deal, you give up the right to sue over these fees and collect nothing. Those who opted out of the earlier Mackmin settlement must opt out of this one separately. Only withdrawals at independent machines in the United States and its territories count, so surcharges at UK machines do not qualify. Overseas visitors charged at a US machine should check with the administrator.