Mastercard paying out £70 even if you've never held a card with them

THE MONEY IS BEING PAID OUT FOLLOWING AN OUT OF COURT SETTLEMENT AFTER IT WAS SUGGESTED MASTERCARD'S FEES WHICH WERE 'TOO HIGH' WERE PASSED ON TO CUSTOMERS 15:05, 02 Jun 2025

Martin Lewis has issued urgent advice to anyone who has a Mastercard - saying that even people who have never had one could still receive £70. The Money Saving Expert founder has today

provided a guide via his MSE website on how to check if you’re owed £70 compensation payment from Mastercard, reports Express.co.uk. It follows the credit card company settling out of court

£200m in a case about its card processing fees. READ MORE:£200 COST OF LIVING PAYMENTS SET TO ARRIVE IN DAYS GET BREAKING NEWS ON BIRMINGHAMLIVE WHATSAPP , CLICK THE LINK TO JOIN A claim,

alleging that Mastercard’s fees were too high, suggested that these amounts were being passed on to customers by retailers, so even those who never had a Mastercard may have been impacted.

Article continues below Today, Martin Lewis posted on X (formerly Twitter) about the issue, and alerted his followers to the fact that you don’t actually need to have a Mastercard - or ever

had one - to claim. He wrote: “New MSE Guide. Check now if you're due up to £70 from Mastercard - even if you've NEVER had one," he said. "Millions are in line for

compensation after the card firm settled a landmark legal case against it out of court…” To claim, according to the claim website, you need to have lived in the UK for at least three months

in a row between 1997 and 2008, and be aged 16 or over for those months. In that period, you need to have bought something from a UK retailer, with any payment method. You also need to have

lived in the UK on September 6, 2016, and not have opted out of the legal case previously (which is unlikely). A legal portal has now been set up on the website

MastercardConsumerClaim.co.uk. It says: “The Competition Appeal Tribunal today gave its final approval to the £200 million settlement in the long running class action against Mastercard,

which will now allow the millions of UK consumers who are part of the class to come forward and claim their share of the £200 million, with individuals potentially getting between £45 and

£70 each. “UK consumers will shortly be able to register to receive a payment by completing a simple online form regardless whether they ever held a Mastercard card. It is expected that

payments will be made to consumers who register before year end. “This is the largest settlement of a group litigation for the benefit of UK consumers. Whilst the settlement level is less

than the billions that were initially claimed, in the end the facts of the case as they became known through many hearings, with witness and expert evidence, meant that the true value of the

claim became clear and the £200 million represents what the Tribunal considered to be without doubt a fair and reasonable settlement. In today’s economic times, UK consumers will welcome up

to £70 in their pockets. “The Tribunal judges recognised the “huge responsibility” as class representative undertaken by former Financial Ombudsman Walter Merricks and expressed its

appreciation for his over 8 year “tireless fight” for the benefit of the class he represented. “It also commended his decision to come up with a distribution plan that seeks to ensure

maximum participation from UK consumers in the settlement payment process. Challenges to the settlement by litigation funder Innsworth Capital, which sought to argue that it should get at

least £179 million and UK consumers should be capped at getting no more than £4 each, were all comprehensively rejected. The Access to Justice Foundation may also benefit from the

settlement. “Official information on how to claim will be posted on this website in the coming weeks. Article continues below “You are automatically a member of the class if you (i) lived in

the UK (for at least a continuous period of three months) between 22 May 1992 and 21 June 2008; (ii) were aged 16 or over during this time; (iii) (for non-business purposes) bought goods

and services from businesses selling in the UK, irrespective of the means of payment used; and (iv) were living in the UK on 6 September 2016.” The exact amount you will get is £70, though

the amount could end up lower if more people put a claim in, Martin Lewis’ MSE said.