NCGA Rebukes Visa/MasterCard Class Action Settlement

Iowa City, IA (November 1, 2012) – Today, in objections filed with the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of New York, National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA), one of 10 named class plaintiffs in long-standing antitrust litigation against Visa, MasterCard and the largest banks, strongly rebuked the proposed interchange settlement and urged Judge John Gleeson to deny its preliminary approval. The 10 named plaintiffs were joined by thousands of U.S. merchants who share the view that the proposed settlement locks in the broken interchange system rather than imposing meaningful reforms to it.

“The growing and increasingly vocal opposition from the merchant community demonstrates just how ineffective and unacceptable this proposed settlement is,” said Robynn Shrader, chief executive officer for NCGA. “We remain committed to fighting for fair and transparent practices in the industry.”

The other named class plaintiffs opposing the proposed settlement of the case, which is known as “In Re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation,” are Affiliated Foods Midwest, Coborn’s, Inc., D’Agostino Supermarkets, Jetro Holdings, Inc. and Jetro Cash & Carry Enterprises, National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), NATSO, National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), National Grocers Association (NGA), and National Restaurant Association (NRA).

“The proposed settlement would further entrench Visa and MasterCard anticompetitive practices,” Shrader continued, “and effectively strip our members of their legal rights to fight for real change in court. We simply cannot allow this to happen.”

Oral arguments before the court are scheduled for November 9.

Objecting Plaintiffs Opposition to Class Plaintiffs Motion for Preliminary Approval of Proposed Class Settlement

Merchant Declarations

About NCGA

National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA), founded in 1999, is a business services cooperative for retail food co-ops located throughout the United States. NCGA helps unify food co-ops in order to optimize operational and marketing resources, strengthen purchasing power, and ultimately offer more value to natural food co-op owners and shoppers everywhere. Our 128 member and associate co-ops operate 165 storefronts in 35 states with combined annual sales over $1.4 billion. NCGA is a winner of the dotCoop Global Awards for Cooperative Excellence in recognition of the application of cooperative values and principles to drive cooperative and business success. For a map of NCGA member and associate co-ops, visit www.ncga.coop. To learn more about co-ops, visit www.strongertogether.coop or www.go.coop.