维萨、万事达与零售商57亿美元和解协议获批

A U .S . federal judgeonFridayapprovedanestim ated $5.7billionclass actionsettle-m ent betw een m erchantsand V isaInc. andM asterC ardInc. over credit cardfeesdespiteobjectionsfrom thousandsof retailersw hocom plainedit w as inadequate.

美国联邦法官13日批准信用卡公司维萨、万事达支付57亿美元以了结其与商户就信用卡交易费引起的集体诉讼案。不过，仍有数千家零售商控诉该协议结果，表示不满。(路透社)

The agreem ent—billed as the largest settlem entof anantitrust case—w as reachedin2012to endyears of litigation against paym ents networks V isa andM asterCard as w ell as several banks that issue theircredit cards.M erchants and their trade groups sued thecom panies in 2005，alleging they conspired to set so-called interchange fees at unfairly high levels.

这宗史上最大反垄断和解案件在2012年达成和解协议，以了结多年来针对支付公司维萨、万事达以及多家发行信用卡的银行的诉讼。商户及其贸易团体在2005年对这些公司提起诉讼，指控其互相勾结，联合制定虚高的交易费。(《华尔街日报)

T hesettlem ent provides for cashpaym entstom erchantsnationw ideandletsthem beginchargingcustom ers anextrafeew hentheyuseV isa or M asterCardcredit cards.

这一协议将向全国商户以现金方式支付和解金，并让商户开始向使用维萨或万事达信用卡的顾客征收额外刷卡费用。(路透社)

For the credit cardcom panies，the approvalof thesettlem ent w ill allow them tocast asideatrem endouslegal headache. Y etitisnotenoughtoquell the anger of retailers，w hosaytheagreem ent does not prevent thecredit cardgiants from im posinghigher fees w ithim punity.

对信用卡公司来说，此项和解协议的批准将使他们摆脱一项令人头痛的大型法律纠纷。不过，这项协议不足以平息零售商的愤怒。他们表示，这项协议并没有阻止信用卡巨头强行征收更高额费用而不受惩罚。(《华盛顿邮报》)

M erchants have arguedthat theyhave lim -itedpow er tonegotiate the am ount of the fees，w hichcost them andtheir custom ers about $30billiona year，accordingtothe N ational R e-tail Federation. T heyhavealsoaccusedcreditcardcom panies of barringthem from steeringshoppers tocheaper form s of paym ent.

商户表示，他们参与协商交易费额度的力量有限，而根据全美零售商联合会提供的数据，交易费每年为他们及其客户造成约300亿美元的损失。商户同时指控信用卡公司阻拦了他们引导消费者采用更便宜的支付方式。(《华盛顿邮报》)

U nder certaincircum stances，the settlem entallow s m erchants tochargecustom ers extraiftheyuseV isaor M asterC ardcredit cards. ButC ritics ofthe dealpointoutthatthoseopportunities areextrem elylim ited，andcertainstates prohibit suchsurcharging. T he critics alsosaythat m erchants areunlikelytotakeadvan-tage ofsurcharging forfearofupsettingconsum ers or losingthem tocom petitors that donot im pose a surcharge.

尽管该协议允许商户在某些情况下向使用维萨或万事达信用卡的顾客收取额外费用，但批评人士称这种机会非常有限，一些州甚至禁止征收额外费用。还有批评表示，商户由于害怕得罪顾客或令顾客选择不征收额外费用的其他商家，因此不可能好好执行征收额外费用的权利。(路透社)

U.S . D istrictJudge John G leeson ofB rooklyn，N ew Y ork，dism issed som eof theobjectionsm adebym erchantsopposedtothedeal as hyperbole.

但美国纽约布鲁克林地方法官约翰·格里森表示，对抵制该协议的商户提出的部分反对意见不予理会，认为这些意见含有夸张成分。(路透社)

T hetradegroupisconsideringappealingand h as th e backing ofseveralretailorganizations，includingtheN ational A ssoci-ationof Convenience Stores andN ational Com -m unityPharm acists A ssociation，that saythedeal w ill notchangethefighting betw eenm erchants andcardcom panies.

目前，零售商的贸易团体正在考虑上诉，并已得到包括美国便利商店协会和美国药剂师协会在内多家零售组织的支持。他们表示，此项协议不会改变商户和信用卡公司之间的战斗。(《华盛顿邮报》)

In July 2012，attorneysrepresentingm erchantsnationw idereacheda $7.2billionsettlem entthathassincetum bled to $5 .7billionas 8，000m erchants，includingA m a-zon andWal-M art，bow edout of thedeal.T hosedissenters saythedeal forces m erchantsthat accept V isaor M asterC ardtow aivetheirright tosue the com panies over sw ipe fees.

事实上，在2012年7月，代表全国商户的律师就与信用卡公司达成了72亿美元的和解协议，但由于包括亚马逊和沃尔玛在内的8000家商户中途退出和解，和解金因此减至57亿美元。这些反对者表示，这项协议强迫使用维萨或万事达信用卡的商户放弃就刷卡费上诉这些公司的权利。(《华盛顿邮报》)

M anyretailers w hooptedout of theset-tlem ent have filedtheir ow nlaw suits.

许多退出和解协议的零售商已单独提起诉讼。