MasterCard is disappointed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to review the Second Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision upholding a grant of class certification in the antitrust lawsuit brought against MasterCard and Visa by a group of U.S. merchants. By not taking this opportunity to clarify the confusing standards for class certification that exist among district and appellate courts today, the Supreme Court may be opening the doors to increasing class action abuse.
Recently, American Enterprise Institute fellow James Glassman speculated that if the Supreme Court refused to accept the case, ‘then class-action suits—already a virus spreading through the U.S. economy—could become an uncontrollable plague. Gigantic industry-vs.-industry suits, packaged and promoted by trial lawyers, will multiply, and shareholders, businesses and consumers will be the victims.’
However, the Court’s decision does not relate to the merits of the case, which challenges MasterCard’s “Honor All Cards” rule. This rule that provides consumers with the assurance that their MasterCard cards will be accepted at all MasterCard merchants. The rule is one of the cornerstones of any successful payment system, and all other systems, including Visa, American Express, Discover and the regional ATM networks, have a similar rule.
MasterCard is confident that this attempt to take away from consumers the ability to choose how to pay for their purchases will fail. It will fail because when the merits of the case are heard in court, we are confident that our rule will be recognized as pro-competitive and a critical safeguard which protects the rights of consumers.