American Express is set to pay over $17 million to settle a federal antitrust lawsuit filed in New York. The class action suit accused the global financial services giant of unlawfully imposing anti-steering rules on merchants. These rules allegedly prohibited businesses from encouraging consumers to use payment methods with lower processing fees. The settlement primarily benefits Illinois residents who used non-rewards Visa, Mastercard, or Discover credit cards for purchases at specified businesses between January 2016 and June 2022.
AMEX has not admitted to any wrongdoing. A judge is expected to give final approval to the settlement on June 17th.