Late last spring we wrote about a deadline extension in the Visa-Mastercard settlement and noted in the first paragraph that “there's a good chance it will be pushed again.”

And indeed it was: the deadline is now February 4, 2025.

It pains us to be right, at least in this instance. A second deadline extension means an even longer wait for the distribution of this settlement.

But you know what?

You don’t have to wait.

People who sell their Visa-Mastercard claim to Certificate Clearing Corporation (CCC) don’t have to wait until 2025… or ’26 or ’27 or whenever the administrator finally completes all the voluminous claims processing. Hundreds of businesses have already received payment from CCC for their Visa-Mastercard claims thanks to our monetization service.

Why is there an extension… again?

First, the plaintiff attorneys say processing the massive number of claims (roughly 18 million potential claimants) has made their understanding of the demands of such a task “evolve.” The plaintiff attorneys wrote in their letter to the judge:

"There is an enormous volume of data in this case and the understanding of that data and the use to which it can be put has evolved as the claims process has progressed. Class Counsel and Epiq want to ensure that as many class members as possible are able to obtain settlement benefits and mailing claim forms to additional potential claimants which can be recovered from these additional data sets will advance that goal. If granted, this additional time for the claims process will benefit all class members."

Secondly, the administrator received an additional list of potential claimants and now must begin a new mailing of the settlement notice to these claimants. The plaintiffs write:

“[T]he Class Administrator received additional data from Visa… and others. Some of this data included records identifying a potentially significant number of possible Class Members to whom claim forms had not been sent… The Class Administrator thus recommends mailing Claim Forms to the remaining merchants who had not been sent claim forms.”

Wait, more claimants? Does that mean…

… the pro rata distribution could diminish, now that a “potentially significant number of possible Class Members” may also join the claim filing process?

Yes, that very well may happen.

Yet another reason to sell your claim to Certificate Clearing. An unknown variable has been added to the mix, which could mean a reduced pay-out in addition to a long wait.

If you sell your claim to CCC, you can put money back into your business today. It could very well make up for the cost of waiting.

What will you do with your check from Certificate Clearing? Will you hire more people, upgrade your IT capabilities, invest in new ventures?

The possibilities are endless. The wait doesn’t have to be.