3.6.5. Legal proceedings
Visa settled an antitrust lawsuit brought by a class of U.S. merchants, including Wal-Mart, for billions of dollars in 2003. According to a website associated with the suit, Visa and MasterCard settled the plaintiffs' claims for a total of $3.05 billion, and Visa's share of this settlement is reported to have been the larger. As of early 2005, it is expected to have raised its interchange rate from 1.634% to 1.99%, which can be expected to affect the discount rates paid by retail locations to the banks with which they deal.
