Google Joins Growing List of Retailers Suing Card Networks

Like many large retailers fighting the card networks over interchange fees, Google Inc. opted out of a $5.7 billion settlement in the 2013 class-action lawsuit against Visa and MasterCard.

And, much like many of those other retailers, Google chose to pursue its own lawsuit against those card networks, filing last week in Texas federal court.

Google accused MasterCard and Visa of violating federal antitrust law in charging it interchange fees above the competitive market when accepting payments from customers using MasterCard and Visa credit or debit cards.

The three-page complaint was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

In its new complaint, the technology giant says the card networks charged its higher fees for transactions Google accepted between Jan. 1, 2004 and Nov. 28, 2012, Law360 reported.

Google opted out of the 2013 settlement because it stipulated that merchants accepting the ruling could not sue the card brands in the future over interchange fees or card-brand rules.

Since that settlement, retailers have filed more than 30 lawsuits against Visa and MasterCard, seeking billions of dollars in damages. U.S. District Judge John Gleeson, who delivered the settlement ruling, denied the card brands' request in July to dismiss the appeals.

Retailers opting out of the original settlement also claimed that the money being offered from the card brands was not enough to cover losses or costs.