LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - The UK Supreme Court said on Friday that a $18.5bn class action lawsuit against Mastercard for allegedly overcharging more than 46m people in Britain over a 15-year period could go ahead.
"Mastercard has been a sustained competition law breaker, imposing excessive card transaction charges over a prolonged period in a way it must have known would impose an invisible tax on UK consumers," said Walter Merricks, who is leading the class action.

In what is the first mass customer claim brought under a new legal regime, Mastercard could end up paying each of those affected up to $400 if the case is successful.

The case was brought after Mastercard lost a drawn-out appeal against a 2007 European Commission ruling that its fees were anti-competitive.

Mastercard said it fundamentally disagreed with a claim that it said was being driven by "hit and hope" US lawyers.

"Mastercard will be asking the Competition Appeal Tribunal (which will oversee the case) to avert the serious risk of the new collective action regime going down the wrong path with a case which is fundamentally flawed," it said in a statement.

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