Free Money

[Charles]

A class action lawsuit against Visa, MasterCard, and Diner's Club has gone to settlement. If you used a credit card to make a foreign currency transaction between February 1, 1996 and November 8, 2006, you are eligible to receive a minimum of $25 to repay you for getting screwed on the currency conversion. As I read it, you may be eligible for more than $25 if you can provide documentation that you got screwed for big money and deserve a bigger refund.

More details here.

[FG Lurker]

Discussed last month:

http://www.fuckedgaijin.com/forums/showthread.php?p=170090#post170090

[Western All Stars]

Yes I received a notice in the mail the other day from the US District Court about this. Basically you're given three options: 1) easy refund of $25 2) total estimated refund which is 1% of all transactions between 1996 and 2006 3) annual estimated which is 1-3% of year-by-year transactions. This option is more for corporate cards and requires more documentation.

If you used your credit card/debit card once outside the US you are eligible for the refund. You can submit the claim online here: http://ccfsettlement.com/

[Greji]

Yes I received a notice in the mail the other day from the US District Court about this. Basically you're given three options: 1) easy refund of $25 2) total estimated refund which is 1% of all transactions between 1996 and 2006 3) annual estimated which is 1-3% of year-by-year transactions. This option is more for corporate cards and requires more documentation.

If you used your credit card/debit card once outside the US you are eligible for the refund. You can submit the claim online here: http://ccfsettlement.com/

What about the reverse flow? A credit card issued in Japan and the conversion rates from dollars back to yen?

[Charles]

What about the reverse flow? A credit card issued in Japan and the conversion rates from dollars back to yen?

The website says the settlement applies to US-issued cards only (or to be more specific, issued by certain US card companies). But I see big potential in filing your own class action suit. Who knows what might happen, you could battle through the courts and maybe even hit the jackpot and win a whole $25.

[Western All Stars]

What about the reverse flow? A credit card issued in Japan and the conversion rates from dollars back to yen?

My guess is no. There are two settlement classes and both have this sentence in their definition: "all Persons who or which were holders of United States-issued MasterCard- or Visa-branded Credit or Debit Cards or United States-issued Diners Club-branded Credit Cards..."

The real winners are lawyers who will request 27.5% of the estimated $313,000,000 settlement amount.

[Greji]

The website says the settlement applies to US-issued cards only (or to be more specific, issued by certain US card companies). But I see big potential in filing your own class action suit. Who knows what might happen, you could battle through the courts and maybe even hit the jackpot and win a whole $25.

You're right of course and to make matters worse, they would probably want to adjust for the yen rate of the day versus the rate of the day when the suit was filed!