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Mastercard in $17Bn Fee Lawsuit, Accused of Preying on Millions

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Mastercard Inc. preyed on more than 46 million unknowing consumers by unfairly charging card fees over a 16-year period, lawyers seeking to bring a 14 billion-pound ($17.2 billion) class-action lawsuit told a London court, according to Bloomberg report.

The credit-card company infringed European Union competition law by imposing high charges to retailers that accepted its cards between 1992 and 2008, Paul Harris, a lawyer for consumers, told the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

Locally, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek recalled that in 2013, Mastercard also received oppositions from IT experts in Nigeria for its involvement in the national identity card management.

Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON) berated the Federal Government of Nigeria over the agreement, and disassociated itself from the project, saying the partnership with MasterCard contravenes global guideline and standard.

Chris Uwaje, president (now former), ISPON, said that the United Nations guidelines on the implementation of projects like national ID (that has to do with national security) stipulate that the scheme should be executed with open source software with indigenous people as primers.

“In the case of the national identity card project, none of the ISPON members were contacted neither is any indigenous firm involved in the implementation. We are not aware of any indigenous company working with them.” He said.

Engr. Lanre Ajayi, erstwhile president, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), said that the project should be stopped because trusting information about Nigerians in the hands of foreigners is a security risk.

According to him the involvement of a foreign company in the scheme is not in the interest of the country.

“The right thing would have been for the National Identity Management Commission to assemble Nigeria professionals, empower them and mandate them to implement the project;  by this our confidential data will be secured, that will also bring about development to the country” Ajayi said.

In his opinion, Bob Okonyia, chairman, Bocal Limited, a card scheme, said that the project is not in line with expectations of Nigerians from regulators and policy makers.

“First of all, giving the national identity management project to MasterCard is opening our gateways to foreigners.  Everybody with that card cannot feel at home. Everyone involved in this project should know better.

Even local companies with competence to implement the project were disregarded. What are they trying to achieve? The foreign company is not offering us free service; they are going to be paid in foreign currency, by that they are liquidating the economy. They are pretending as though they want to help us” Okonyia added.

John Owobokiri, a renowned legal practitioner based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said that the scheme is not likely to address the controversy that confronts it before it goes into full implementation.

Owobokiri warned of severe consequences if legal limits on use of data to be generated by the exercise are not reviewed, as reported by Nigeria CommunicationsWeek.

But, in the present lawsuit, the panel will hold a two-day hearing to decide whether the matter should go to a full trial. It would be the U.K.’s biggest class action and one of the first filed under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

“It is difficult to be able to see why Mastercard should be able to prey on millions of people, what’s more without these people knowing they were being injured,” Harris said. “This is the archetypal case that the government had in mind when creating this new regime.”

Mastercard has faced numerous lawsuits since EU courts said the company’s fees for cross-border payments unfairly restricted competition.

The firm said that a cap imposed by the European Commission on what it charged retailers to process transactions on foreign transactions would shift the burden onto customers, an argument the Court of Justice rejected and opened the door to collective lawsuits from consumers.

The lawsuit was initiated by Walter Merricks, a lawyer who once led the U.K. organization that handles consumer disputes with banks, and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP.

In court documents, Mastercard said the suit should be rejected because the level of damages is “impossible to assess on any reliable basis.” The awards allocated to individuals would also “bear no reasonable relationship to their actual loss,” the company said.

“Mastercard continues to disagree with the basis of the proposed collective action and we will strongly oppose this claim in the event the court decides to hear the case,” a spokesman said.

 

 

 

 


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Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

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E-Financial

NAICOM Signs MoU with BPP to Deepen Insurance Compliance in Public Procurement

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The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) for collaboration and strengthening of the insurance industry, in the area of public procurement processes.

The Commissioner for Insurance, Olusegun Ayo Omosehin, welcoming the Director-General of BPP, Adebowale Adedokun, and his delegation to NAICOM for a working visit, during which the agreement was signed, highlighted the role of NAICOM as the statutory regulator charged with supervising, regulating and promoting the growth of Nigeria’s insurance industry.

He further stated that NAICOM’s current reform priorities include policyholder protection, regulatory capacity building, legal modernisation, recapitalisation, and increasing insurance penetration.

He emphasised that the collaboration would reinforce the principles of public procurement and insurance practice in Nigeria. He noted that achieving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s vision of transforming Nigeria’s economy into a one-trillion-dollar economy required strong inter-agency cooperation.

He stressed that the commission’s reform objectives could not be fully realised without strategic collaboration with agencies such as BPP. The Commissioner further disclosed plans to establish a platform to monitor and verify insurance coverage for public procurement items and assured that insurance operators would strictly adhere to established rules and standards.

In his remarks, the Director-General of BPP, Adedokun, commended the ongoing transformation in the insurance industry, describing the Commission’s environment as serene and reflective of its readiness to support the Federal Government’s economic growth agenda.

Adedokun, welcomed the partnership and highlighted implementation as the critical next phase: “Signing MoU is only the beginning — what matters is delivery. BPP has moved to a fully digital submission model to speed approvals and reduce opportunities for corruption”, he stated.


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Nigeria’s VAT Jumps 34%, CIT Soars 48% to ₦14trn in 9M’25 – NBS

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Nigeria’s non-oil tax collections posted robust growth in the first nine months of 2025, with Value Added Tax (VAT) rising 34 per cent to ₦6.4 trillion and Company Income Tax (CIT) jumping 48 per cent to ₦7.72 trillion, bolstering federal revenue amid oil price volatility.

Nigeria's VAT Jumps 34%, CIT Soars 48% to ₦14trn in 9M'25 – NBS

NBS

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed VAT climbing from ₦4.77 trillion in 9M’24, reflecting stronger domestic consumption and imports. Quarterly trends indicated a slight 1.4 per cent dip to ₦2.03 trillion in Q2’25 from ₦2.06 trillion in Q1’25, followed by a 10.66 per cent rebound to ₦2.28 trillion in Q3’25—a 28.1 per cent year-on-year gain.

In Q3’25, local VAT hit ₦1.12 trillion, foreign VAT ₦680.23 billion, and import VAT ₦479.79 billion. Sectorally, Administrative and Support Services led with 89.28 per cent quarter-on-quarter growth, trailed by Arts, Entertainment and Recreation (82.49 per cent) and Human Health (32.4 per cent). Real Estate contracted sharply by 51.33 per cent. Manufacturing dominated contributions at 25.89 per cent, followed by Information and Communication (18.77 per cent) and Mining/Quarrying (14.85 per cent).

CIT followed suit, surging from ₦5.22 trillion in 9M’24. It stood at ₦1.98 trillion in Q1’25, leaped 40 per cent to ₦2.78 trillion in Q2’25, and grew 5.7 per cent to ₦2.96 trillion in Q3’25—a 67.19 per cent year-on-year rise. Domestic CIT reached ₦1.21 trillion in Q3, while foreign CIT hit ₦1.75 trillion, underscoring multinational firms’ role.

Economists attribute the uptick to improved tax administration, digital tracking, and post-reform consumption, though sectoral disparities signal real estate headwinds. The gains support President Tinubu’s revenue diversification drive, reducing oil dependency as global crude fluctuates.

NBS data highlights non-oil taxes’ potential to fund infrastructure and social programmes, with analysts eyeing sustained momentum into 2026.


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SEC Revokes Registration of Kensington Agro Trading Limited

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Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revoked the registration of Kensington Agro Trading Limited as a capital market operator with immediate effect.

SEC Revokes Registration of Kensington Agro Trading Limited

In a public notice issued by the Commission, the regulator announced that Kensington Agro Trading Limited’s registration as a Commodity Broker/Dealer and Collateral Manager has been withdrawn, effectively stripping the company of its authority to operate within Nigeria’s capital market.

According to the notice, the revocation was carried out pursuant to the powers vested in the Commission under Section 61(6) of the Investments and Securities Act, 2025, as well as Rule 34(1) of the SEC Rules and Regulations 2013, as amended.

The SEC stated that the decision takes immediate effect and urged all stakeholders to take note of the development.

“Accordingly, commodity exchanges, the investing public, commodity traders, and all capital market stakeholders are advised to discontinue capital market-related dealings with the company,” the Commission said.

The directive means that Kensington Agro Trading Limited is no longer authorised to engage in any capital market activities under the regulatory oversight of the SEC. Market participants have been cautioned to avoid entering into transactions or maintaining business relationships with the firm in its former capacity as a registered operator.

While the notice did not specify the reasons for the revocation, such regulatory actions are typically taken in line with the Commission’s mandate to ensure compliance with extant laws, protect investors, and maintain market integrity.

The SEC, headquartered in Abuja, reiterated its commitment to upholding transparency, investor protection, and strict adherence to regulatory standards in Nigeria’s capital market.

The Commission’s action underscores its continued enforcement drive aimed at sanitizing the market and ensuring that only duly registered and compliant operators are permitted to function within the ecosystem.

Stakeholders and members of the public are encouraged to verify the registration status of capital market operators through official SEC channels before engaging in investment-related transactions.


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