Southern District of New York Judge William H. Pauley III denied American Express Co.’s motion for summary judgment on antitrust class action claims. Class members are users of Visa and MasterCard credit cards charged foreign transaction fees for purchases made in a foreign currency. In its claim filed in 2004, the class alleged that AmEx conspired with various other banks to fix foreign currency conversion rates and to impose arbitration clauses in cardholder agreements.
The class presented evidence that several similar banks raised their foreign transaction fees by up to 3 percent around the same time that AmEx raised its foreign transaction fees by 1 percent. Judge Pauley found that a reasonable jury could conclude that AmEx’s price raise was parallel conduct, which could potentially prove the alleged conspiracy. AmEx’s motion was denied regarding the arbitration issue because, even though class members were not AmEx customers, the class has standing to the extent it can show antitrust injury from having fewer choices on the market due to the alleged conspiracy.