Discover Card Merchant Class Action Settlement Update

Article Payments & Treasury Solutions

September 4, 2025

Discover Card settlement

U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS | CASE NO. 1:23-CV-4676

Updated on 9/4/25

If you accepted or processed Discover credit cards between 2007 and 2023, you might be eligible for a payment from a $1.2B class action settlement.

As of July 30, 2025, Preliminary Approval (of the Settlement) has been granted by the court. In addition to the settlement, the Settlement Class has been formally defined as “All End Merchants, Merchant Acquirers, and Payment Intermediaries involved in processing or accepting a Misclassified Card Transaction during the period from January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2023. ” Yes, that’s correct. 17 years.

The settlement addresses allegations that Discover misclassified certain consumer credit cards as commercial credit cards, leading to excessive interchange fees. The official website for the Discover Card Merchant Class Action Settlement has been updated with claim dates and important definitions.

Notices will be sent starting September 11, 2025, and the claims filing period will end on May 18, 2026.

Beginning September 11, be on the lookout for settlement claim forms to arrive in the mail. You should expect to receive a claim form for every merchant account (MID) you owned during those 17 years, even if that MID is no longer active.

Things to consider doing now:

  • Begin gathering your merchant statements from January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2023.
  • Identify the Discover transactions received during the stated period.
  • Notify your Legal office, other appropriate central offices, and all departments that accepted cards during the stated period that this legal action is underway. Share this article with them.

Based on what occurred with previous card brand settlements, I expect two things to begin happening soon:

    • Third parties will reach out to offer to help your business file a claim, for a fee.
    • Departments (merchants) will begin receiving claim forms. These are typically sent via U.S. mail.
  • Determine how claims forms sent to departments are to be handled, what departments should do with them, and which area is responsible for overseeing claim submission to ensure your business receives all the funds due from the settlement.
  • Share this news with other entities associated with your business that may have accepted Discover cards during this period (Alumni, Foundation, healthcare entities, doctor practice plans, etc.).
  • Monitor the settlement official website for updates, bookmark this article on the CampusGuard website for updates, or reach out to CampusGuard Treasury Advisory Services or your CampusGuard CRM to learn more.

Other Discover news:

On May 18, 2025, Capital One Financial Corporation completed its acquisition of Discover Financial Services. The acquisition received approval from the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Delaware State Bank Commission, and the shareholders of Capital One and Discover.

Currently, no changes to products or services have been announced. Here are a few articles about the acquisition.

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About the Author
Ruth Harpool

Ruth Harpool

AAP, APRP, CTP

Treasury Solutions Advisor

Ruth provides consulting in the areas of Treasury Operations, Payments, and Payments Risk management. She has over 30 years of experience in banking services, banking operations, not-for-profit treasury cash management, and payments management operational leadership. Formerly, Ruth was the Managing Director of Treasury Operations at Indiana University.

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