Visa and Mastercard have agreed to pay $167.5 million to settle claims that their rules artificially inflated ATM access fees at independently owned cash machines across the country, and cardholders who withdrew money from those machines as far back as October 2007 may be entitled to a payout. The companies deny any wrongdoing, but a federal judge has already granted preliminary approval of the deal, setting in motion a claims process that could put money back in the pockets of millions of Americans who paid a surcharge that their bank never fully reimbursed.
The case, formally known as Burke v. Visa Inc., et al., was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and traces back to allegations that Visa and Mastercard violated federal and state antitrust laws, according to WBIR. The lawsuit claimed the two networks prevented independent ATM operators from lowering withdrawal fees, amounting to price fixing that left cardholders paying more than they otherwise would have. Under the settlement terms, Mastercard agreed to pay $78.725 million and Visa agreed to pay $88.775 million, together totaling the $167.5 million fund.
The litigation itself dates back to October 2011, meaning the settlement caps off almost 14 years of legal battles over the fees, according to Fast Company. The original claims centered on network rules dating to 1996 that barred independent ATM operators from offering lower surcharges when withdrawals were routed over cheaper alternative debit networks, as reported by Payments Dive.
Who Qualifies For a Payout
To be eligible, a claimant must have been charged an ATM access fee or surcharge after withdrawing cash from an independent ATM in the U.S. or its territories between October 24, 2007, and the eligibility period's end on August 14, 2026 — the date preliminary approval was granted. An independent ATM, for purposes of the settlement, is one not owned by a bank, financial institution, Visa or Mastercard. The transaction must have involved an ATM or PIN-debit card tied to a deposit account, and the fee must not have been fully reimbursed by the cardholder's own bank.
Consumers may also belong to one or more statewide class action lawsuits in California, Illinois, Massachusetts or Michigan, which are folded into the broader settlement. Claimants must submit claim forms through the settlement website or by mail, and documentation is not required to file a claim. Those who prefer paper can mail a claim to Non-Bank ATM Surcharge Fee Settlement, c/o A.B. Data, Ltd., P.O. Box 173053, Milwaukee, WI 53217, with forms due no later than February 10, 2027.
How and When Payments Will Arrive
Once claims are processed, eligible class members will receive their share of the distributed settlement money, sent digitally via email once the deal is approved. Claimants will get an email offering digital payment options, including PayPal and a virtual debit card, though anyone who prefers a paper check may request one instead. The claims administrator expects to send payments within six months if the settlement is approved and no appeal is filed.
The payout pool won't stay at $167.5 million for long, since the fund will be reduced by attorney fees, litigation costs and other expenses before any money reaches consumers. Attorneys for the plaintiffs have said they plan to request up to 30% of the fund — roughly $50.25 million — in legal fees, according to The Guardian. That means final per-person payouts will depend on both the total number of valid claims filed and how much the court ultimately approves in fees.
Deadlines and Court Dates To Watch
Cardholders who want to object to the settlement or exclude themselves from it have until December 11, 2026, to do so, per TopClassActions. A final fairness hearing is scheduled for February 17, 2027, roughly a week after the claim filing deadline closes.
Part of a Much Larger Legal Fight
This settlement covers only fees paid at non-bank, independently owned ATMs, and it isn't the first payout tied to this long-running dispute. Major banks JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America previously agreed to pay a combined $66 million in 2021 to resolve their own role in the same litigation, the same Fast Company report notes. Separately, Visa and Mastercard agreed to a $197.5 million settlement in a related case, Mackmin v. Visa Inc., covering inflated fees at bank-operated ATMs; the settlement received final court approval in June 2025.
Even with both consumer settlements now in place, the networks aren't fully in the clear. A third lawsuit filed by independent ATM owners and operators themselves remains pending against Visa and Mastercard in Washington federal court over the same fee restriction rules, the Guardian report adds.
The fight over ATM fees comes against a backdrop of rising costs for consumers nationwide. Bankrate's annual fee study, published in September 2025, found the average out-of-network ATM withdrawal fee hit a record $4.86 per transaction, made up of a $3.22 ATM operator surcharge and a $1.64 fee from the customer's own bank. Regional variation was stark: Atlanta posted the highest average combined fee among major metros at $5.37, while Boston had the lowest at $4.37, according to a Bankrate study cited by CBS News.
The private settlements also sit alongside a separate federal action. In September 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Visa, alleging the company illegally monopolized the U.S. debit market through exclusionary agreements and volume penalties, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. That case remains separate from the ATM fee settlements but underscores the broader scrutiny Visa's business practices continue to face from federal regulators.
