You Could Be Owed Cash From a $167 Million Visa and Mastercard Settlement, Here's How to Check

Visa and Mastercard have agreed to pay a combined $167.5 million to settle a lawsuit accusing them of blocking independent ATM operators from lowering their withdrawal fees, and if you have paid a fee at a non-bank ATM in the United States any time since October 2007, you may be owed a share. The deadline to file a claim is 10 February 2027.

What the Visa and Mastercard settlement actually pays out

The $167.5 million settlement resolves a class-action antitrust lawsuit that accused Visa and Mastercard of using their network rules to stop independent ATM operators, the machines you find in a corner shop, a bar or a gas station rather than inside a bank branch, from setting lower withdrawal fees than the networks allowed. Visa is contributing $88.8 million and Mastercard $78.7 million to the fund. Neither company has admitted wrongdoing; settling ends the case rather than proving the claim.

Who qualifies, and the deadline to file a claim

You qualify if you used a PIN-linked debit card to withdraw cash from an independent, non-bank ATM in the United States between 24 October 2007 and 14 August 2026, and your own bank did not fully reimburse the fee the ATM operator charged you. That covers most of the withdrawal fees people pay at a convenience store, gas station, grocery store or bar ATM rather than at their own bank's machine. There is no need to have kept a receipt from twenty years ago; claims are self-certified, and the final payout per person depends on how many valid claims come in before the deadline. File by 10 February 2027; the court holds its final approval hearing a week later, on 17 February.

Why this settlement covers US ATMs, not the one you'll use abroad

This settlement is about the United States only. The lawsuit challenged Visa and Mastercard's domestic network rules, and it has nothing to do with what either network allows an ATM operator to charge in Nepal, Thailand or anywhere else you might withdraw cash on a trip. Do not expect a claim form for the ATM you used in Thamel. What is worth taking from it, though, is the fee structure itself: an independent ATM abroad routinely stacks the same two charges this lawsuit was about, the machine operator's own surcharge plus whatever your home bank charges for an out-of-network or international withdrawal, and outside the US there is no equivalent class action capping how high either side can set it. In Kathmandu or Pokhara, that stack is commonly higher than the US fees this settlement is refunding, not lower.

What this means for how you carry cash on your next trip

The practical lesson travels better than the settlement does: check your own bank's foreign-transaction and ATM fee schedule before you fly, not after. A card that waives its own out-of-network fee still leaves you exposed to whatever the machine on the ground charges, and in a country where ATMs thin out fast once you leave the capital, you often cannot shop around for a cheaper machine the way you can at home. We cover the specific Nepal numbers, including where cash machines actually run out and the withdrawal limits that catch first-time trekkers, in our own guide to avoiding foreign-transaction and ATM fees.

Common questions about the ATM fee settlement

Do I need a receipt to file a claim?

No. Claims are self-certified; you attest to qualifying withdrawals rather than submit proof for each one, which is standard for a settlement covering fees going back to 2007.

How much will I actually receive?

There is no fixed per-person figure yet. The $167.5 million fund is divided among everyone who files a valid claim by 10 February 2027, so the payout depends on the total number of claimants.

Does this cover ATM fees I paid while travelling internationally?

No. The settlement is limited to independent, non-bank ATMs inside the United States between October 2007 and August 2026. Fees paid at ATMs abroad, including in Nepal, are not part of this case.

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