The Opportunity:

After close to 20 years of litigation, the Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement entered its claims phase on Dec. 1, 2023. This process would see more than $5.5 billion returned to millions of Visa and Mastercard merchants. This was the largest private antitrust class-action settlement in U.S. history, and an outreach and education program was needed to get the word out to merchants. (W)right On Communications was retained to deliver the Payment Card Settlement public relations and outreach program.

payment card settlement icon

The Solution:

Our team developed and led an integrated communications strategy to complement the mailed claim form and paid ads which were overseen by the settlement administrator. Working closely with the administrator and co-counsel, our payment card settlement public relations program integrated multiple, integrated strategies, including:

Branded Content:

  • Branded swipe machine icon applied to all program materials
  • Messaging to emphasize the settlement’s size, legitimacy and ease of claiming
  • Campaign collateral including printed handouts, digital resource kit, PR assets and social media content
  • Educational webinars for trade association leaders and their members
  • Trade show display for in-person outreach

Media Outreach:

  • Press release translated into 9 languages plus additional milestone releases
  • Video news release in English and Spanish
  • Story pitches to media and media interview support

Social Media:

Community Relations:

The Results:

Our Payment Card Settlement public relations program contributed to greater awareness of the claims process, producing over 70 million impressions from:

  • 500+ media mentions read, seen or heard by 42 million people:
  • 19.5M social media impressions
  • 2M influencer impressions
  • 250 trade associations contacted, representing 6.5 million individual business members
  • Thousands of webinar registrants and attendees
  • In-person contacts and additional digital impressions through the Small Business Expo.

The campaign was awarded the Mark of Excellence for integrated communications by the  Public Relations Society of America regional chapter.

Claims closed Feb. 5, 2025 and are currently being validated and processed by the claims administrator. If you reached this page seeking information about the status of your claim, please email info@paymentcardsettlement.com.