Yesterday I got a Notice of Class Action Settlement in the mail. It described a $6 billion dollar settlement against Visa and Mastercard. Their crime? Forcing users of their payment networks to pay excessive fees in violation of federal antitrust laws. The victims include any merchant who accepted Visa or Mastercard between 2004 and 2012.
Details of the settlement are also online here:
https://www.paymentcardsettlement.com/enOur primary payment service providers have been actively and illegally ripping us off for years now. Even worse, V & M have used their position as a must-have payment option to force merchants to obey the rules or risk being kicked out of their network. For examples, V & M made merchants sign agreements specifically preventing them from:
- Charging customers an extra fee if they pay with V or M
- Offer discounts to customers who use cheaper, alternative forms of payment
- form buying groups to to give merchants more power when negotiating with V & M
Thankfully the federal judge ruling on the case saw the truth and ruled in favor of the people in this case.
As you're watching bitcoin's exchange rate rise and fall today, remember the bitcoin is more than just an investment opportunity. It's an engine of financial revolution of a worldwide scale. The largest of the existing payment networks on the planet are actively, knowingly, and illegally screwing people out of their money. Bitcoin is our best hope to stop them in their tracks.
