Visa and Mastercard non-bank ATM fee settlement: who is included and the deadlines

Updated October 1, 2026 · Sources

Open for claims

Claim deadline: February 10, 2027, submitted online or postmarked by this date.

Status as recorded on October 1, 2026.

Cardholders sued over Visa and Mastercard network rules that, they say, kept independent ATM operators from charging lower fees on cheaper networks, so cardholders paid more; Visa and Mastercard deny doing anything wrong. It covers people charged a fee for a cash withdrawal at an independent ATM in the U.S. between October 24, 2007 and August 14, 2026 who were not fully reimbursed by their bank.

Key facts

Case: Burke v. Visa Inc. (Visa and Mastercard non-bank ATM surcharge settlement), No. 1:11-cv-01882 U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Judge Richard J. Leon) Burke v. Visa Inc., U.S. District Court, D.D.C.checked October 1, 2026
Defendant: Visa Inc., Visa U.S.A. Inc., Visa International Service Association, Plus System, Inc.; Mastercard Incorporated and Mastercard International Incorporated d/b/a Mastercard Worldwide
Who is included: People in the United States charged a surcharge (access fee) for a cash withdrawal with an ATM or pin-debit card at an independent ATM in the U.S. or its territories between October 24, 2007 and August 14, 2026, and not fully reimbursed by their bank. Statewide classes for California, Illinois, Massachusetts and Michigan. Not credit card, cash advance or prepaid card transactions.
Claim deadline: February 10, 2027 submitted online or postmarked by this date
Opt-out (exclusion) deadline: December 11, 2026
Objection deadline: December 11, 2026
Final approval hearing: February 17, 2027
What a claimant can receive: Pro rata share of the net settlement fund by number of qualifying surcharged transactions; no per-person figure is known. Paid digitally by email (PayPal, virtual debit card or other options) with a paper check on request. If the settlement is approved and no appeals are filed, the administrator anticipates paying within six months.
Proof of purchase or loss needed: No documents at filing; claim is signed under penalty of perjury and the administrator may ask for bank statements.
Tier without proof: Claim form needs no documentation at filing: an estimated number of surcharged withdrawals, signed under penalty of perjury
Settlement administrator: A.B. Data
Official settlement website: nonbankatmsurchargesettlement.com

Read in the official record on October 1, 2026. A row without its own source mark comes from the source marked above it.

A freestanding cash machine with a receipt coming out of its slot, next to a shelf with envelopes and coins.

Which withdrawals count

The case is Burke v. Visa Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, before Judge Richard J. Leon. The notice defines an independent ATM as one not owned by Visa, Mastercard, or any bank or other financial institution. The fee in question is the surcharge, or access fee, that the machine's operator charged for the withdrawal.

It was a cash withdrawal in the United States, made with an ATM or debit card.
Your bank did not fully reimburse the fee.
Credit card transactions, cash advances and prepaid cards are not covered.
There are also statewide classes for California, Illinois, Massachusetts and Michigan.

Two related cases run in the same court. Mackmin v. Visa Inc. covers fees at bank-operated ATMs and is a separate settlement; National ATM Council v. Visa Inc. is brought by businesses that run ATMs. The notice says a person can belong to more than one class and that choices made here do not affect rights in those related lawsuits. Under the court's order, an exclusion filed in an earlier settlement does not carry over to this one.

Email, ads and a magazine notice: how word of this case goes out

The court's order of August 14, 2026 U.S. District Court for the District of Columbiachecked October 1, 2026 directs a short notice by email, digital ads, a one-time print ad in People magazine and a press release. The order lets the administrator, A.B. Data, Ltd., reuse email addresses it already held from notice and claims in the two earlier Mackmin settlements, so people whose address was used there can get an email about this case too.

What the real notices carry:

The line "This is not a solicitation from a lawyer."
A Notice ID number, for email notices. The claim form has a field for a Notice ID if you received an email notice Claim form on the official settlement websitechecked October 1, 2026, and the field is optional.
The claim form asks for a valid email address and a mobile phone number.
Neither the notice nor the claim form mentions a tax form or asks for a Social Security number.

The administrator's phone number is 1-866-893-1052. Its mailing address is printed in Question 30 of the long-form notice, Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement (long form). A message that gives another number or website for this case can be compared with these with the notice check.

Claim, opt out, object or do nothing: the dates

The opt-out letter has to arrive by its date, while an objection only has to be postmarked by the same day; the claim window runs about two months longer.

File a claim. Due February 10, 2027 Burke v. Visa Inc., U.S. District Court, D.D.C.checked October 1, 2026: online by that date, or by mail postmarked by that date. The form asks for no documents at filing, though the administrator may ask for more later Non-Bank ATM Surcharge Settlement, A.B. Data, Ltd.checked October 1, 2026. It asks yes-or-no questions and an estimate of how many times you paid a fee your bank did not reimburse, and it is signed under penalty of perjury. The administrator may ask for bank statements.
Exclude yourself (opt out). The letter must be received by December 11, 2026 Burke v. Visa Inc., U.S. District Court, D.D.C.checked October 1, 2026, at the exclusions address in Question 18 of the notice, which differs from the general mailing address. It must say you want to be excluded from Burke v. Visa and give your full name, address, phone number, email if you have one, and your signature. The court's order asks for a handwritten signature. Someone who opts out is not paid from this fund and is not bound by the settlement's release.
Object. Postmarked by December 11, 2026 Burke v. Visa Inc., U.S. District Court, D.D.C.checked October 1, 2026 and sent to the Court Clerk. Question 24 of the notice says objecting does not stop you from also filing a claim.
Ask to speak at the hearing. A Notice of Intention to Appear must be postmarked by December 11, 2026.
Do nothing. No claim means no payment here, and, per the notice, the release still applies to you.

Because one mailed deadline here is "received by" and the others "postmarked by", the deadlines guide explains how the two kinds differ; the options guide covers what a release is.

The fund and how it is divided

The settlement fund is $167,500,000 Burke v. Visa Inc., U.S. District Court, D.D.C.checked October 1, 2026: $88,775,000 from Visa and $78,725,000 from Mastercard. Before anything is shared, the court may approve deductions from it:

attorneys' fees, which class counsel will ask to set at up to 30% of the fund;
notice and administration costs of up to $3 million;
service awards of up to $17,500 for each class representative;
costs and taxes.

The rest is shared pro rata, meaning in proportion to the number of qualifying fees each claimant paid, so no one can know in advance how much each payment will be Burke v. Visa Inc., U.S. District Court, D.D.C.checked October 1, 2026. Money left over goes to a nonprofit or "next best" recipient the court approves; none of it returns to Visa or Mastercard.

What happens after the deadline

The final approval hearing (the notice calls it the Fairness Hearing), where the judge decides whether to approve the settlement, is set for February 17, 2027 Burke v. Visa Inc., U.S. District Court, D.D.C.checked October 1, 2026 at 4:00 p.m., Courtroom 18, in the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. The notice says the hearing may be held electronically or moved to a different date or time without additional notice, and sends readers to the official website for updates. When this page was checked, the court had not yet decided whether to approve the settlement.

On timing, the notice says that if the settlement is approved and no appeals are filed, “the Claims Administrator anticipates that payments will be sent out within six months” Burke v. Visa Inc., U.S. District Court, D.D.C.checked October 1, 2026; it also says it is hard to estimate how long any appeals would take. Payment arrives as a digital payment by email (for example PayPal or a virtual debit card), with the option to ask for a check. A.B. Data describes its digital payment process on its own website, Digital PayPortal; the A.B. Data page and the payments guide explain how to check a payment email.

One note on what was read: the official website's home page loads its text by script and could not be read as text, so the facts here come from the documents the website hosts, including the court's order.

Tracker errors, and one gap inside the record

Some sites list the opt-out deadline with no kind. The court-approved notice says the exclusion letter must be received by December 11, 2026, not just mailed.
Some sites say claims must be filed online or by mail "by" February 10, 2027. The notice says online by that date, or mail postmarked by that date.
Some sites say withdrawals made with cards issued outside the United States are not covered. The notice, the claim form and the court's order do not say this.
Some sites reported, after the order, that there was no official website and no preliminary approval. The order was entered on August 14, 2026.
Inside the official record, the notice asks for objections postmarked by the deadline, while the court's order says "filed or postmarked".

Free help with a question about your own rights: class counsel, named in Question 16 of the notice; the clerk of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; or a legal aid office.

Sources

Summary Notice: Withdrew Cash from a Non-Bank ATM and were Assessed a Surcharge?Burke v. Visa Inc., U.S. District Court, D.D.C.
Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement Between Burke Plaintiffs and Visa and Mastercard DefendantsBurke Plaintiffs, Visa Defendants and Mastercard Defendants
Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement (long form)Burke v. Visa Inc., U.S. District Court, D.D.C.
Non-Bank ATM Surcharge Settlement Claim FormNon-Bank ATM Surcharge Settlement, A.B. Data, Ltd.
Order Granting Preliminary Approval of Settlement and Directing Notice to the Class, ECF 198 (filed 08/14/26)U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Non Bank ATM Surcharge SettlementOfficial settlement website
Digital PayPortalA.B. Data Class Action Administration

Each source listed here was read on October 1, 2026.