Visa, Mastercard to Cut Fees, Let Retailers Reject Certain Cards

Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. reached a deal with retailers to reduce some of their fees and give merchants more leeway to reject customers who use certain credit cards, including the premium ones that have been surging in popularity.

The proposed settlement — which is meant to bring more than 20 years of litigation to an end — could ultimately save merchants more than $200 billion, according to Joseph Stiglitz and Keith Leffler, who served as expert economists in the case on behalf of the retailers. That would make it one of the largest-ever class-action settlements of a US antitrust case.