Discover Interchange Fee Settlement: Who Could Claim a Payment

The steps depend on the role your business had in handling Discover transactions. A notice sent to your business may identify its likely type. If you are uncertain, the notice says to submit a claim as early as possible; the Settlement Administrator can say whether more action is needed.

• Most businesses that accepted Discover cards through a processor, payment facilitator, or merchant acquirer—rather than under a written contract directly with Discover—are likely Indirect End Merchants.
• An Indirect End Merchant must submit a claim by May 18, 2026. An Inactive Direct End Merchant also must submit a claim by that date.
• A Managed Active Direct End Merchant does not need to file a claim form. It must provide payment details and confirm the right legal entity to be paid by May 18, 2026.
• An Unmanaged Active Direct End Merchant is already deemed eligible for payment. No further action is required, although updating its address may be important.
• Merchant Acquirers and Payment Intermediaries each have two steps: submit their required business information by their earlier deadline, then submit a claim by May 18, 2026.

A MID is Discover’s own merchant identifier. It can differ from identifiers your business normally uses. A business may have more than one MID, and more than one business can sometimes be linked to the same MID.

• The payment starts with Discover’s estimate of the interchange-fee overcharge, plus applicable interest, for each Discover merchant identifier (MID).
• The Settlement Administrator decides how that MID amount is divided among the End Merchant, Merchant Acquirer, and any Payment Intermediaries connected to that MID, based on who paid the interchange fees.
• Your payment is the total of the portions allocated to you for all associated MIDs, subject to settlement-wide increases or reductions.
• If you timely submit the required claim or information, you will receive notice of the estimated overcharge amount allocated to you before payments are issued. You may submit additional information to challenge that allocation.

The $1.225 billion figure is not an amount promised to every claimant or necessarily the amount that will be distributed through this settlement alone.

• Eligible members generally receive at least $10 if their calculated payment would otherwise be lower.
• That increase is not guaranteed at the full amount if all base-payment increases together would exceed $50 million. In that event, the increases are reduced proportionally.
• Discover’s required restitution has a $540 million minimum and a $1.225 billion-plus-interest maximum. Both calculations include certain qualifying payments Discover makes outside this settlement.
• If total payments exceed the maximum, settlement payments are reduced proportionally unless Discover chooses to pay more. If total payments are below the minimum, settlement payments are increased proportionally.

A Merchant Acquirer had an agreement with Discover to facilitate Discover transactions for other businesses and was treated as an Acquirer under Discover’s rules. A Payment Intermediary processed Discover transactions for another business but was neither an End Merchant nor a Merchant Acquirer.

• Merchant Acquirers must submit Merchant Acquirer Information by November 12, 2025, and also submit a claim by May 18, 2026.
• Payment Intermediaries must submit Payment Intermediary Information by February 25, 2026, and also submit a claim by May 18, 2026.
• The notice says identified businesses in these groups should receive a letter describing the recommended data layout and secure submission options. It does not list the required information fields in the notice itself.

• Your business may fit more than one Settlement Class Member type, such as both a Payment Intermediary and an End Merchant.
• To seek all payments that may apply, it must meet the requirements for every applicable type.
• Do not ignore an additional notice just because you already received one.

• Payments are only issued after the settlement is approved and becomes final. The notice does not give a payment date.
• Payment can be a mailed check or, if the class member chooses, an ACH transfer to its designated U.S. bank account.
• The Settlement Administrator may require an IRS Form W-9 before issuing payment, depending on the payment amount.

• The notice describes how to submit a claim, but it does not say whether the claim form requires records showing losses or other supporting documents.
• For Merchant Acquirers and Payment Intermediaries, the notice requires their respective additional information, but the notice does not list all of the data fields. Identified businesses are to receive a letter with a recommended data layout and submission options.
• The Settlement Administrator may ask for more information after a claim is submitted or may request a W-9 before payment.

• Doing nothing normally means no settlement payment. The stated exception is an Unmanaged Active Direct Merchant, which the notice says is already payment eligible.
• If you remain in the class and the settlement is approved and becomes final, you give up the right to sue Discover over the claims in these cases or related Misclassified Card Transactions.
• To leave the settlement, mail an exclusion request postmarked by March 25, 2026. A person or business that opts out receives no settlement payment but keeps any right it may have to sue.
• An exclusion request must include identifying business information, the lead case name and number, a clear statement seeking exclusion, and the authorized representative’s signature.