Got some letter from above mentioned government authority saying that I'm eligible to receive a court approved refund of fees charged from Visa, MasterCard, and/or Diners Club credit/charge or debit/ATM cards. I guess the credit card companies were involved in some shady business concerning overseas credit card charges. Here's a sample of the notice sent to me.

quote:

Notice of Class Action Settlement To: Visa, MasterCard and Diners Club Cardholders This notice is to inform you of a hearing about an agreement to settle a class action lawsuit, which now includes improvements to the plan for distributing settlement proceeds. The lawsuit is about the prices that cardholders of Visa and MasterCard credit and debit/ATM cards, and Diners Club credit cards (including charge cards) were charged to make transactions denominated in a foreign currency or with a foreign merchant, including purchases, cash advances, cash withdrawals, and Internet transactions. The Visa cards include Visa-Interlink-, and Plus-branded credit and debit/ATM cards; the MasterCard cards inlcude MasterCard-, Cirrus-, and Maestro-branded credit and debit/ATM cards. The Plaintiffs in this lawsuit (In reCurrency Conversion Fee Antitrust Litigation, MDL 1409) challenge how the price of credit and debit/ATM card foreign transactions was set and disclosed inlcuding claims that Visa, MasterCard their member banks, and Diner Club conspired to set and conceal fees, typically of 1-3%, on foreign transactions, and that Visa and MasterCard inflated their base exchange rates before applying these fees. The Plaintiffs also claim that the amount of these fees and that the failure to adequately disclose them violated federal and state antitrust, disclosure, unfair competition, deceptive practices, and consumer protection laws, as well as common law and equity. The Defendants (Visa, MasterCard, Bank of America, Bank One/First USA, Chase, Citibank, Diners Club, HSBC/Household, MBNA and Washington Mutual/Providian) deny the Plaintiffs' claims and say they have done nothing wrong, improper or unlawful. If you made a foreign transaction between Freburary 1, 1996 and November 8, 2006 with a U.S.-issued Visa, MasterCard, or Diners Club card, you are a member of the Settlement Damages Class. If you had, as of November 8, 2006, a Visa, MasterCard, or Diners Club card, you are a member of the Settlement Injunctive Class, and will benefit from the settlement even if you did not use your card to make a foreign transaction. The lawsuit asks for money damages and restitution for the Settlement Damages Class, and injunctive relief for the Settlement Injunctive Class.

Even though the refund is small ($25), money is still money and I'll gladly do it to hurt the credit card companies' deep pockets. All the more happier I ordered Scott Bond's Ahead album from the UK in 2004. It qualified me for the Settlement Damages Class.

Cor Version: Credit card companies got caught inflating foreign exchange rates and now the court wants to offer a small refund for all credit/debit card holders. Anyone else get this letter?