If you’ve ever pulled $40 out of an ATM at a gas station, a convenience store or a bar — and paid $3 or $4 for the privilege — you may have a small slice of $167.5 million coming.
Visa and Mastercard have agreed to pay that much to settle a lawsuit that’s been grinding through federal court in Washington, D.C., since 2011. The claim window is open now, and it reaches back nearly 19 years.
Here’s the catch: Most people who qualify will never file. The ones who do split the money. That’s how these settlements work, and it’s why I’m telling you now instead of letting you find out after the deadline.
The case, Burke v. Visa, targeted the fees charged at independent ATMs — the machines that aren’t owned by a bank.
According to the court-approved notice, the lawsuit claimed the card networks’ rules barred those ATM operators from charging you less when your withdrawal could run on a cheaper competing network.
In plain English, the lawsuit said the rules kept ATM fees higher than they had to be. Visa and Mastercard deny doing anything wrong, and settling isn’t an admission. But they’re paying, and you may be in line.
Here’s how to get your share.
1. See if you qualify
You’re part of the nationwide class if you paid a fee to withdraw cash at an independent ATM in the U.S. between Oct. 24, 2007, and Aug. 14, 2026, and your bank didn’t fully reimburse you.
Think about where you’ve grabbed cash over the years: the corner store, the gas station, the grocery store, the bar, the hotel lobby. If the machine didn’t belong to a bank and it charged you a fee, it likely counts.
There are also separate classes for California, Illinois, Massachusetts and Michigan, so if you live in one of those states, check the notice for details.
Who’s out? Mainly Visa and Mastercard employees and affiliates, government entities, the judges on the case and anyone who opts out.
2. Count your fees honestly
Each valid claim gets a proportional share of the money, based on how many qualifying fees are claimed. So the number you put down matters.
Don’t guess high. Claims are filed under penalty of perjury, and people who qualify may be asked for bank statements, ATM receipts or other documentation, according to reporting from the Houston Chronicle.
The easiest way to build an honest count is to log in to your bank’s website and search your statements for ATM fees. Many banks keep several years of statements online.
Then think about your habits before that. If you hit the machine at the same gas station twice a month for 10 years, that’s 240 fees.
Nobody’s getting rich here. Class lawyers are asking for up to 30% of the fund, plus costs, and there’s no estimate yet of what each claim will be worth. But money sitting on the table belongs in your pocket, not someone else’s.
3. File before Feb. 10, 2027
You can file online at the official settlement site, NonbankATMSurchargeSettlement.com, or mail a claim postmarked by Feb. 10, 2027.
The judge holds a final approval hearing Feb. 17, 2027, so don’t expect a payment before then. If you’d rather keep your right to sue Visa and Mastercard on your own, the deadline to opt out is Dec. 11, 2026. For almost everyone, filing a claim makes more sense.
Do nothing, and you’re still bound by the settlement. You give up your right to sue — and you get nothing.
Quick heads-up — companies spend billions figuring out how to separate you from your money. I’ve spent my career exposing those tricks. Sign up for the free Money Talks Newsletter and keep more of what you earn. 10 seconds, no spam, ever.
4. Hang up on anyone who wants a fee to help
Every big settlement brings out the con artists. Expect emails, texts and calls offering to “process” your claim or speed up your payment — for a small fee, of course.
The Federal Trade Commission’s advice on refund and recovery scams is blunt: If someone contacts you out of the blue and wants money upfront to get you a refund, it’s a scam. You don’t pay anything to file this claim.
The official administrator is a company called A.B. Data. If you have questions, use the phone number and email address in the court notice or on the official site, never a number from a text message.
5. Stop paying ATM fees for good
A settlement check is nice. Never paying the fee again is better.
Using an out-of-network ATM now costs an average of $4.86 a withdrawal, counting both the machine’s surcharge and the fee your own bank tacks on, according to Bankrate’s 2025 checking account survey. That’s a record for the third year in a row.
Do that twice a month, and you’re out more than $115 a year for the privilege of getting your own money.
The fixes are simple. Use your bank’s own ATMs or its fee-free network, get cash back at the grocery store checkout, or move to an account that refunds ATM fees. We rounded up 11 banks that refund them.
Two more settlements worth a few minutes
While you’re in claim-filing mode, two more deadlines are coming up this fall:
- CVS: A $20.5 million privacy settlement covers people who used CVS.com, CVSHealth.com or the CVS app before July 27, 2026. Payments run up to $5 without documentation or up to $10 with proof, and claims are due Nov. 16, 2026, according to FOX 9 in Minneapolis. CVS denies wrongdoing.
- Apple: A $250 million settlement covers iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 16 models bought from June 10, 2024, through March 29, 2025. Expect around $25 per device, possibly more or less depending on claims, and you’ll need the phone’s serial number. Claims are due Dec. 21, 2026, CBS News reports.
Not every class-action check is worth chasing. Here’s how to tell the difference. But when you’ve been paying a fee for years and filing takes a few minutes, it’s worth grabbing your share.
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