MA · 10-Q · 2026Q3 · Full report

Litigation and Legal Risk

Mastercard Inc · 2026-10-29 · Importance 71 · Surprise 82 · Matches filing data

For the nine months ended September 30, 2026, Mastercard recorded $156 million in litigation charges, primarily for settlements with merchants opting out of the U.S. merchant class litigation and a legal provision for ATM non-discrimination rule surcharge complaints. The charge was down 53% from $330 million in the comparable 2025 period, exceeding the filing’s year-over-year change threshold. The filing also reports $74 million of charges for the three months ended September 30, 2026, primarily related to U.S. merchant class opt-out settlements.

Key facts

• Mastercard’s nine-month 2026 litigation provisions included $156 million of charges ($108 million after tax, or $0.12 per diluted share), primarily due to merchant class opt-out settlements and ATM non-discrimination rule surcharge complaints. source
• Mastercard recorded nine-month 2025 litigation charges of $330 million, including a change in estimate for claims of merchants who opted out of the U.S. merchant class litigation and provisions for U.S. liability shift litigation and ATM non-discrimination rule surcharge complaints. source
• Mastercard recorded third-quarter 2026 litigation charges of $74 million, primarily due to settlements with merchants who opted out of the U.S. merchant class litigation. source
• Mastercard recorded nine-month 2026 litigation charges of $156 million, primarily due to settlements with merchants who opted out of the U.S. merchant class litigation and a legal provision associated with ATM non-discrimination rule surcharge complaints. source
• Mastercard’s third-quarter 2026 litigation provisions included $74 million of charges ($49 million after tax, or $0.06 per diluted share), primarily due to settlements with merchants who opted out of the U.S. merchant class litigation. source
• Mastercard stated that liquidity and access to capital could be negatively affected by the outcome of legal or regulatory proceedings to which it is a party. source

Impact estimates