Information About the Visa Check/Master Money Antitrust Litigation Settlement
(Honor All Cards Rule)

Effective January 1, 2004, and upon thirty (30) days advance written notice, under the terms of the Visa Check/MasterMoney Antitrust Litigation settlement agreement, U.S. merchants will have the following options:

Option 1 - Continue to accept all MasterCard® and Visa® card types
Option 2 - Discontinue acceptance of either of the following categories of
U.S. consumer MasterCard and Visa cards.

Category A
U.S. consumer check cards and
U.S. pre-paid cards

• Classic


• Gold


• Platinum


• Buxx


• EBT


• Gift


• Payroll


• Pre-paid cards (one-time or re-loadable)

Category B
U.S. consumer credit cards

• Classic


• Gold


• Platinum


• Visa Signature


• MasterCard World Card


• Visa Infinite

Merchants' option is limited to discontinuing acceptance of one of the above categories of cards. Accordingly, within each category, if merchants decide to accept any one of the listed cards, they must accept all of the cards in that category. For example, if a merchant decides to accept Visa Signature, it must also accept Visa Infinite.

Important: If U.S. merchants continue to accept any MasterCard or Visa cards, they must continue to accept all of the following MasterCard and Visa cards even if they opt out of one of the above categories of cards:

• Non-U.S. Issued MasterCard and Visa cards (both consumer and commercial cards and both credit and debit/pre-paid cards)


• U.S. and non-U.S. commercial cards


• Business (credit, debit, etc.)


• Corporate


• Commercial Prepaid


• Fleet


• Purchasing


• Non-U.S. consumer cards (credit cards, check cards, and prepaid cards)

Reminder: The "honor all cards" rule remains in effect through December 31, 2003. Merchants may not discontinue acceptance of one of the above categories of cards until thirty (30) days after they have given advance written notice of such discontinuance. For more information on these various card types, please refer to your Card Acceptance Guide, your merchant agreement, and/or the card association websites.