Many Americans are eager to know if or not the amount of $1,797 will be sent to their Visa and Mastercard cards as a direct payment. A headline with this particular information has been making rounds lately on the internet and it has created a slew of questions and misunderstandings. If you are one of the people who stumbled upon this news, then it is likely that you are not alone. But, is that really true? And can you get paid?
To save you time, we did the fact-checking and what we found out is that not all of it is true. Here’s the full story of this latest settlement that is causing such a buzz.
What is the Buzz About?
The hype the news is that a class action lawsuit settlement is thanks to the actual situation with Visa and Mastercard. The litigation was about high ATM fees that the customers were said to have been charged unfairly. These were fees paid by those who withdrew money from ‘foreign’ ATMs between the dates of October 1, 2007, and July 26, 2024.
The settlement talks about the joint efforts of the two card networks, Visa, and Mastercard, and the main banks to over-charge ATM users with the resultant victims being millions of cardholders.
For this reason, the court has sanctioned the disbursement of a roughly $197M compensation to the impacted cardholders.
Where Exactly Does the Number 1,797 Dollars Appear?
This is the part where the mass gets confused.
The figure of $1,797 is no guarantee that all- without exception- will get the compensation. This amount is a quick approximation of the expected amount that one could receive based on the number of honest claims made and those eligible transactions individuals had at that point of time.
In a typical situation, the payment, in reality, will most probably be far less, but if the user frequently resorted to the use of ATMs and was imposed with higher fees for many years consistently, then the case would be different.
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Who Could Request the Refund?
In order to be the one to receive a refund, you needed to do the following:
- Utilize a Visa or Mastercard debit card at a U.S. ATM.
- Get a surcharge fee from an out-of-network ATM.
- Carry out the transaction between October 1, 2007, and July 26, 2024.
One more thing you wished was to submit a claim before January 22, 2025. January 24, 2025, was the date of the confirmation hearing marked as the official settlement site.
If you failed to meet the deadline, the bad news for you! You can’t get the payment.
What Would Be the Next Steps?
If you sent your compensation request in time, this is what you should be ready for:
- You might be given back your money either through the bank or by the check that will come in the mail.
- Payments are supposed to begin in a few months but will be largely determined by how quickly things get processed.
- The amount you will receive will be different according to the history of your transactions and the number of people who submitted valid claims.
When in doubt about the status of your claim, refer to the settlement administrator’s website or talk to your bank.
Be Cautious – Watch Out for Scams
Since this subject is a current issue, con artists may fabricate situations for their gain. There are scam websites that can offer too-good-to-be-true payments such as $1,797 or they may ask for sensitive data in the form of emails.
Don’t be foolish. Never reveal your social security number or send banking details unless it’s legit and the source is, for example, the official settlement site.
It’s true the settlement with Visa and Mastercard is happening. But still, everyone won’t be given $1,797. Generally, most payments will be much smaller, and one can only be the recipient only if he/she filed a timely claim.
If you fail to meet the deadline, you will not receive anything from this distribution. However, this occurrence is a lesson; that is why you must not relax as there are still opportunities for class action settlements in the future. Yet, you can only get real money if you act on time and become a part of the claim.
Don’t worry; we will monitor the situation and we will let you know immediately the payment process starts.
