$5.5B Settlement Public Relations & Outreach

WOC | Signal provided the Payment Card Settlement public relations and outreach program to help millions of businesses claim their share of $5.5 billion.


The Mandate: Nationwide Outreach for the Payment Card Settlement

WOC | Signal was appointed the court-authorized public relations and outreach team supporting the Visa and Mastercard Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement as it entered its claims phase on Dec. 1, 2023. Fourteen months later, the outreach had generated 70.7 million targeted impressions, produced 13 educational webinars and engaged 250+ trade associations to encourage eligible merchants to claim their share of more than $5.5 billion. This was the largest private antitrust class-action settlement in U.S. history, requiring an outreach and education program to give as many merchants as possible the opportunity to claim. By the summer of 2026, court records indicated 2.12 million merchants had signed up to make a claim and 1.47 million had filed a claim.

payment card settlement icon


The Solution: Court-Authorized PR & Multichannel Communications Strategy

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 a multichannel strategy, 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 Impact: 70.7M Impressions & Nationwide Merchant Awareness

Trade association outreach and paid influencer content established early momentum. Media attention picked up as the first claims deadline approached in May. Paid social media activity, Small Business Expo events and ‘how to’ webinars sustained engagement as the claims deadline was extended to Feb. 4, 2025. Our Sept. online survey of 113 random business owners found 81% were aware of the settlement and 75% of those said they had claimed. Surveys of webinar attendees in Feb. 2024 and Oct. 2025 found high satisfaction with the information and increased intent to claim. The final number of claims filed are still being validated; however, the integrated communications results as of Feb. 5 produced 70.7 million targeted impressions, including:

EARNED MEDIA OUTCOMES:

  • 19.6 million estimated online readership
  • 22.1 million broadcast reach
  • 64 average domain authority of news sites, which is above average

SOCIAL OUTCOMES (Organic and Paid):

  • 19.3 million impressions (X, FB, IG, TT)
  • 223,000 social engagements
  • 102,800 clicks
  • 2 million influencer impressions
  • 107,000 YouTube channel views

ASSOCIATION OUTREACH:

  • 250+ trade associations contacted
  • 6.5 million members represented

OWNED

  • 72,000 digital outreach kit unique visitors
  • 45 emails sent and 1,324 received
  • 45.6% average email open rate
  • 7.6% average email click rate
  • 13 webinars with 27,750 registrations and 7,000 attendees
  • 500 in-person interactions through Small Business Expo events

Frequently Asked Questions about the National Outreach Effort

How many claims were filed in the $5.5B Payment Card Settlement?

By the summer of 2026, official court records indicated that 2.12 million eligible merchants had registered to make a claim, and 1.47 million had successfully submitted their claim.

2. What was the most effective PR and outreach strategy for driving merchant awareness?

The outreach relied on a phased strategy. Initially, trade association outreach proved most effective because merchants already held high trust in their industry associations. WOC | Signal worked with groups like the National Restaurant Association, Georgia Food Industry Association and tribal business associations, for instance. As the final claims deadline approached, national earned media coverage and broadcast news became the primary driver to create urgency and prompt last-minute merchant filings.

3. Who led the court-authorized public relations outreach for the Payment Card Settlement?

(W)right On Communications was appointed as the court-authorized public relations and communications team in the fall of 2023, collaborating closely with co-counsel and the settlement administrator to educate millions of U.S. merchants across earned, owned, and social media. (W)right On Communications launched the WOC | Signal agency brand on March 30, 2026 which delivers similar B2B public relations and class-action settlement outreach campaigns.

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