Visa USA, MasterCard and Diners Card

A class action lawsuit accused Visa, Mastercard, Diners Card and other major credit companies and debit card issuers of overcharging cardholders when converting foreign transactions into dollars and failing to disclose all fees. Visa USA, the domestic division of Visa International, MasterCard of Purchase, N.Y. and Diners Club, the card issuer owned by Citigroup of New York, have reached a tentative settlement. The credit card companies, along with a number of debit and credit card issuing banks and thrifts, including Bank of America in Charlotte, N.C.; Citigroup; JPMorgan Chase & Co. of New York; and Washington Mutual of Seattle, agreed to pay cardholders $336 million. (Jul-26-06)