$17.5M American Express Settlement Ends Class Action Lawsuit Over Merchant Anti-Steering Rules

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A $17,500,000 class action settlement resolves a lawsuit that alleged American Express unlawfully subjected merchants who accept Amex cards to rules prohibiting them from “steering” consumers to pay with non-Amex cards that may charge the merchant a lower fee, and that the apparent anti-steering provisions caused merchants to raise prices to cover the Amex fees, leading non-Amex card users to pay more for purchases.

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The Amex class action settlement received preliminary court approval on February 3, 2026 and covers:

• All Visa or Mastercard debit card accountholders whose account was used to make a purchase from a qualifying merchant (listed below) in Alabama, the District of Columbia, Maine, North Carolina, Oregon or Utah from January 29, 2015 to June 1, 2022, or in Kansas, Illinois, or Mississippi from January 29, 2016 to June 1, 2022 (the “Debit Card Class”); and
• All Visa, Mastercard or Discover general-purpose credit or charge card accountholders (whose card does not offer rewards or charge an annual fee) whose account was used to make a purchase from a qualifying merchant in the District of Columbia from January 29, 2015 to June 1, 2022, or in Kansas or Illinois from January 29, 2016 to June 1, 2022 (the “Non-Rewards Credit Card Class”).

Importantly, court documents state that the only consumers eligible to file a claim form for monetary reimbursement from the class action settlement are those in the Illinois non-rewards credit card class, given that this group is the only class that won at trial and for which the jury proved liability.

The court-approved website for the Amex antitrust class action settlement can be found at AMEXAntitrust.com.

The settlement agreement states that consumers who are currently Amex credit or charge card (including Amex co-branded cards) accountholders or authorized users, or who were during the applicable class periods, are excluded from both the debit card class and the non-rewards credit card class.

Additionally, the agreement notes that the settlement does not cover those who purchased prescription drugs or other medical services from a pharmacy for which the purchaser paid only a flat copay per their insurance plan.

According to court documents, the qualifying merchants and subsidiaries covered by the American Express class action settlement include:

• Academy Sports + Outdoors;
• Advance Auto Parts;
• Albertson Companies, Inc.
  • Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Carrs, Jewel-Osco, Acme, Shaw’s, Star Market, United Supermarkets, Market Street, Haggen, Kings Food Markets, and Balducci’s Food Lovers Market;
• American Eagle Outfitters, Inc.
  • American Eagle Outfitters, Aerie, and Todd Snyder New York;
• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.
  • Bed Bath & Beyond, buybuy BABY, Harmon, Harmon Face Values, Face Values, Harmon Health and Beauty, and Decorist;
• Best Buy Co., Inc.
  • Best Buy, Best Buy Business, Best Buy Express, Best Buy Health, CST, Geek Squad, GreatCall, Lively, Magnolia, and Pacific Kitchen and Home;
• Big Lots;
• BI-LO;
• BJ’s Wholesale Club;
• Burlington Stores, Inc.
  • Burlington Stores, Baby Depot, Burlington Coat Factory, Cohoes Fashions, MJM Designer Shoes;
• Camping World Holdings, Inc.
  • Camping World and Good Sam Club;
• Circle K Stores;
• CVS Pharmacy;
• -Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc.
  • Dick’s Sporting Goods, Gold Galaxy, Field & Stream, and Gamechanger;
• Foot Locker;
• GameStop;
• The Gap, Inc.
  • Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Athleta, Intermix, and Janie & Jack;
• H&M Hennes & Mauritz Ab
  • H&M, COS, H&M Home, “& other stories”;
• The Home Depot;
• Hy-Vee;
• Ikea;
• Kohl’s;
• Kroger;
• Meijer;
• Michaels;
• Publix Super Markets;
• Rite Aid;
• Ross Dress for Less;
• Sprouts Farmers Market;
• Target;
• The TJX Companies, Inc.
  • T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods;
• Tractor Supply Company;
• Ulta Beauty;
• SuperValu;
• Walgreens;
• Walmart Inc.
  • Walmart, Sam’s Club;
• Williams-Sonoma, Inc.
  • Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Teens, West Elm, Williams Sonoma Home, Rejuvenation, and Mark and Graham.

According to the settlement website, AMEX settlement class members in the Illinois non-rewards credit card class who submit a timely, valid claim form are eligible to receive a one-time, pro-rated cash payment from the net settlement fund after the payment of all taxes, notice and administrative expenses, attorneys’ fees, and lead plaintiff service awards. To determine the amount of each class member’s payout, the settlement administrator will divide the net settlement fund by the total number of valid claim forms, the website says.

To submit an American Express settlement claim form online, Illinois class members can head to this page, enter their information, and certify the validity of their claim. Alternatively, class members can download a PDF claim form to print, complete and return by mail to the settlement administrator.

All AMEX settlement claim forms must be submitted online or postmarked no later than May 19, 2026.

Consumers in the debit card class, or who are in the District of Columbia or Kansas non-rewards credit card class, will release their claims against American Express and any legal rights unless they have already asked to be excluded from the settlement. The deadline to ask to be excluded from the certified classes has since passed.

The court will determine whether to grant the Amex antitrust settlement final approval following a hearing on June 17, 2026. Compensation will begin to be distributed to eligible class members only after final approval has been granted and any appeals have been resolved.

The American Express antitrust class action lawsuit alleged that the financial corporation unlawfully subjected merchants to a contract provision that prohibited them from encouraging consumers to use a payment method that would not incur an Amex payment processing fee, in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The lawsuit contended that merchants, in an effort to counteract the Amex fees, raised prices for all consumers, regardless of whether they used an American Express card, and shoppers were subsequently forced to pay inflated prices.  

According to the settlement site, the trial against Amex concluded on August 28, 2025. The jury in this litigation concluded that the corporation did violate the laws of Illinois, but not those of any other states mentioned in the certified classes. Similarly, the jury determined that, of the Illinois class, only the non-reward credit card class had been damaged, and not the debit card class.

Amex and the plaintiffs reportedly agreed to settle the lawsuit prior to the entering of the final judgment by the court.

Did you know that some class action settlements require no proof to submit a claim? Check out the latest current class action settlements.