visa and mastercard ruling today?

The US Supreme Court will likely decide today whether it will review a decision of a federal appeals court to allow the certification of a case against Mastercard and Visa as a class action suit. The case is about whether the two companies have a monopoly when it comes to the use of debit cards at retail stores, and if the fees they have been charging retailers is too high. It was originally initiated by Walmart, but was joined by a number of other retailers, and last year an appeals court allowed it to become a class action lawsuit with nearly every retailer in the country eligible to be awarded damages. I've seen estimates of damages between $39 billion to $47 billion.

[June 10, 2002 update - The Supreme Court ruled to let the class action suit proceed forward today.]