“A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments Thursday on whether a proposed settlement worth up to $6.24 billion in damages to card-accepting merchants is fair.  The hearing in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y., is expected to draw a roomful of lawyers for defendants Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc. and some of the nation’s biggest card-issuing banks, as well as merchant plaintiffs. The court gave preliminary approval last January to the proposed settlement in the 14-year-old MDL 1720 case , setting the stage for this week’s hearing.”

“Nearly four years ago, a lone bankruptcy lawyer sued Square, the payment processor run by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, challenging the app’s terms of use—despite never signing up. As of yesterday, the case will proceed, thanks to an opinion issued by the California Supreme Court that could have wide-reaching implications for online businesses. The first thing you need to know is that, for whatever reason, Square’s Prohibited Goods and Services policies include “bankruptcy attorneys or collection agencies,” which you’ll recall is plaintiff Robert White’s line of work.”

“A. Trent Ruark, a resident of San Diego County, paid a bill in early May at a health-care provider that used a Square device to process credit cards, his attorneys said in a filing in state court in May. Shortly thereafter, Square allegedly sent a text message linking to a digital invoice with information about the treatment he received to the friend, an act that his attorneys said was a breach of rules guarding patients’ confidentiality…Misfired receipts issued by Square have ruined surprise gifts, spilled secrets, informed spouses of the spending habits of their significant others and unnerved consumers who wondered how stores got their contact information when they don’t remember providing it, The Wall Street Journal reported in June.”

“A common assumption among merchant acquirers and retailers is that merchants are the ones who ultimately are liable for network fines after a merchant’s data breach. But a recent decision by a federal appellate court that ruled against First Data Corp., the nation’s largest payment processor, sends a message that such assumptions aren’t always valid. The unanimous June 7 decision by a three-judge panel of the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati involves a Houston-based liquor-store chain, Spec’s Family Partners Ltd., which sued its acquirer, First Data’s First Data Merchant Services unit. Malware on Spec’s payment system in 2012 and 2013 compromised about 550,000 cards, according to court filings and press reports at the time.  “

“A Pennsylvania credit union is suing financial industry technology giant Fiserv, alleging that “baffling” security vulnerabilities in the company’s software are “wreaking havoc” on its customers. The credit union said the investigation that fueled the lawsuit was prompted by a 2018 KrebsOnSecurity report about glaring security weaknesses in a Fiserv platform that exposed personal and financial details of customers across hundreds of bank Web sites.”

“Almost every adult in the UK could receive a payout of up to £300 from Mastercard after a court ruling paved the way for a £14bn class action lawsuit. The legal action taken by former financial ombudsman Walter Merricks claims that 46 million UK consumers paid higher prices in shops over a 16-year period because of allegedly excessive transaction fees charged by Mastercard…”

“The federal court handling the long-running class-action litigation between merchants on one hand and big banks and Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. on the other announced on Friday it has granted “preliminary approval” to a settlement that could award between $5.54 billion and $6.24 billion to merchant plaintiffs. The parties announced in September they had reached a settlement. The final money award in the nearly 14-year-old case, which alleges the banks and networks overcharged merchants for card acceptance, will depend on how many plaintiffs ultimately opt out, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York said, adding that the total will not be allowed to fall by more than $700 million.”

“Synchrony Financial said Wednesday Walmart Inc. has agreed to dismiss a lawsuit against the bank that alleged it breached the terms of their long-running credit-card deal. In the lawsuit, filed late last year in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Arkansas, Walmart said that some of Synchrony’s underwriting standards financially harmed the retailer. Walmart was seeking damages estimated to be no less than $800 million.”

“eBay.com Inc. on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Amazon.com Inc. accusing the company of illegally poaching sellers on its marketplace via eBay’s internal messaging system. The lawsuit, filed in Santa Clara County in California, accuses Amazon of having “perpetrated a scheme to infiltrate and exploit eBay’s internal member email system” over the past few years. The alleged scheme was used by dozens of Amazon sales representatives in the U.S. and abroad to recruit high-value eBay sellers to Amazon, the lawsuit said.”

“The ongoing consolidation of companies focused on point-of-sale systems for restaurants gave rise on Tuesday to an antitrust suit that seeks to reverse one of the most recent mergers among payment processors. Payment Logistics Ltd., a San Diego-based payments provider, alleges in its complaint that Shift4 Payments LLC is using its control of multiple POS systems and a major payments gateway to bar competing processors for mid-size and large restaurants. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, also names as defendants Lighthouse Network LLC, the former name for Shift4’s parent company, and Shift4 Corp., a Las Vegas-based payments-gateway provider Lighthouse acquired in January and renamed Shift4 Payments, which Allentown, Pa.-based Lighthouse took as its new corporate name.”