Who is a Class Member
You are included in the Merchants’ Choice Payment Solutions class action settlement if:
- “You contracted to receive payment card processing services from or through Merchants’ Choice from December 22, 2013, through September 18, 2018; and
- You were charged any of the following fees:
- Annual fees;
- Batch header fees;
- PCI program/compliance fees;
- PCI non-compliance/non-validation fees;
- Gateway access fees;
- Foundry/emerchant fees;
- Monthly minimum discount fees;
- Non-qualified fees;
- Discount rates;
- Other discount fees (including signature debit rates); or
- Paper statement fees.”
If you don’t qualify for this settlement, check out our database of other class action settlements you may be eligible for.
Settlement Amount
- $15,000,000.00
Estimated Award
- $65 – $70
Proof of Purchase
- N/A
Claim Form
Merchants’ Choice Payment Solutions Settlement Notes
- Al’s Pals Pet Care LLC, et al. v. Woodforest National Bank NA, et al.
- Case No. 4:17-cv-3852
- Pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
Several named businesses, including Al’s Pals Pet Care and DeFabio Spine and Sports Rehab, filed this class action lawsuit alleging that Merchants’ Choice Payment Solutions (also known as Woodforest National Bank) engaged in a widespread scheme to defraud and overbill its customers.
Many businesses nowadays rely on companies like Merchants’ Choice Payment Solutions to provide payment processing services for credit card transactions. However, according to the complaint, MCPS tricks merchants into signing up for their “services” and fails to disclose that the merchant will be flooded with additional payment processing fees.
MCPS is one of the largest payment processors in the U.S. with over 70,000 merchants signed up. MCPS was sold to Paysafe in 2017 for $470 million; prior to the sale, a number of shell companies were held under the Woodforest umbrella and made it particularly difficult for merchants to know what parties they were interacting with. Merchants were left with no way of knowing how certain fees were distributed, thereby hindering their ability to question improper “junk” fees.
According to the suit, a major element of MCPS’ scheme was to train their agents to cold call small businesses and falsely indicate they were affiliated with the merchant’s current payment processes. These calls were made under false pretenses to inform merchants to update their equipment to remain compliant or to reapply to avoid fee increases. When merchants received paperwork, it was actually a new contract with MCPS and not their actual payment processor, resulting in businesses paying fees to both MCPS and their actual payment processor.
“The goal of this scheme is to induce merchants into signing three-year agreements with MCPS for payment processing services the merchant does not want or need. This practice is commonly known as ‘slamming’ in the payment processing industry. Defendants are the foremost purveyors of ‘slamming’ and are universally reviled by honest participants in the payments business,” the lawsuit states.
Complete details about the case and settlement are provided on the Merchants’ Choice Payment Solutions settlement website.
Class members who wish to object to or exclude themselves from the Merchants’ Choice Payment Solutions settlement must do so by January 14, 2019. Class members who wish to participate in the settlement must submit a claim form on or before March 4, 2019.
Important Dates
- 3/4/19: Claim Form Deadline
- 1/2/19: Objection or Exclusion Deadline
- 1/30/19: Final Hearing at 1:30 pm MST* (class members do not need to attend this hearing in order to receive a slice of the settlement pie).
*Settlement Class Members who wish to speak at the hearing should check the settlement website at www.MerchantsChoiceProcessingSettlement.com to confirm that the date or time of the Hearing has not been changed.
Contact Information
- Mail: Merchants’ Choice Settlement Administrator, c/o Epiq, P.O. Box 5110, Portland, OR 97208-5110
- Phone: 1-877-877-2385
- Email: info@MerchantsChoiceProcessingSettlement.com
Class Counsel
- E. Adam Webb of Webb Klase & Lemond LLC
- Andrew K. Meade, John Neese, Leann Pinkerton of Meade & Neese LLP
Settlement Website
- www.MerchantsChoiceProcessingSettlement.com