JEL Client FAQ’s

The questions which follow come from our July 24^th and August 16^th JEL Client Webinars and from individual client emails. Rather than answer each client individually, we have packed these questions into an FAQ page. If you have a question we didn’t answer, please submit it to [email protected] and we will add it to this FAQ page.

• Will a copy of the August 16^th webinar be available?

Answer: Yes. We will send a link to an online version of the webinar as soon as the video is edited. At that time, we will also add the link to this answer.

• Please share Kelly Brown’s contact info.

Answer: 
Kelly A. Brown,
Chief Executive Officer,
(414) 339-4058 Cell,  (262) 381-8401 Office,
https://trustampersand.com, 
[email protected],
N16W23217 Stone Ridge Drive, Suite 150 Waukesha, WI 53188

• What is the JEL referral program? Who do I contact for more information?

Answer: JEL welcomes “Referral Partners” who are able to make multiple referrals. For more information, Contact Ed Vicinanza ([email protected]).

• Please give a quick overview of exactly what this claim is about. What did Visa/Mastercard do exactly?

Answer: In 2004, a class action lawsuit was brought against Visa, MasterCard, their subsidiaries and their 32 member banks (remember these defendants as they will be part of subsequent answers). They were accused of colluding from 1996 to 2003 to keep their merchant fees unusually high, i.e. “price fixing”. In this “first Visa case”, Visa settled out of court and put $2.5 billion in a fund. Claimants were paid in 2006 and as reported in the media, the average payout when compared to a claimant’s Total Credit Card Sales Volume for 1996 through 2003 was about 1.1%.

Settling out of court meant that “officially” Visa had not been convicted of anything. So, they continued to collude to keep their fees high. Consequently, in 2012, a second class-action suit (the “second Visa case”) was brought against Visa/MasterCard for the period 2004 to 2012. Again Visa/MasterCard settled out of court and this time, put $3.5 billion in a fund to pay claimants. But unlike the first case, several of the District Court’s decisions were immediately appealed. These dragged on until 2018 when the judge added seven more years to the coverage period (now it covered 2004 to 2019) and increased the payout fund to a minimum of $5.75 Billion.

From March of 2020 to March of 2022 the courts shut down due to Covid. In March 2022, there was a final appeal hearing and a final court decision was rendered in March of 2023.

In August 2023, the court announced that the appeals phase was ended and that the period for submitting a claim against the $5.75 Billion would begin on December 1, 2023 and end on May 31, 2024.

On May 15, 2024, the court ordered that the end of the claim period would be extended to August 30, 2024.

On August 8, 2024, the court ordered that the end of the claim period would be extended to February 4, 2025.

Our best guess is that it will not be extended again.

• Did JEL bring this case originally?

Answer: The original class action suit was brought by a number of merchants who felt that Visa’s fees were too high and that there appeared to be no competition between Visa, MasterCard and their member banks.

• How many other firms like JEL represent clients for this case?

Answer: Approximately 279 as of July 15, 2024. About 142 of them are claims firms like JEL. The remainder are law firms, accountants, payroll companies, etc. acting on behalf of their clients.

• Question: Can I file a claim if I used a third-party billing/credit card processing company and if not, why not?

Answer: The court  has just announced that all companies that used third part processor companies now are part of the settlement (i.e., are “in the class”). So if you used a credit card processor, you have a claim.

• Question: What is the fee your firm charges?

Answer: The fee you are being charged is stated in the Compensation paragraph of the agreement you signed with JEL.

• Payout Questions:

a. How much will I get?

Answer: There is no way to know the amount of your compensation because everyone’s payout will be determined by the size of their claim (as represented by the total fees they paid) as a percentage of all of the claims that are submitted by February 5^th (i.e., until all claims are received, the calculation cannot be made.) Further, the claim administrator is very tight-lipped about this data. Consequently, no one will know the size of their payout until the check arrives.

b. When will I get paid/How long after the deadline of February 4^th 2025 will it take to get paid?

Answer: Again, no one knows. The first Visa case from 2003 paid out in about fourteen months after the close of the claim period. However, there is the expectation that the advances in technology that have occurred in the last 20+ years could very well shorten the time it will take for the claim administrator to calculate and pay out claims this time. When payout does occur, all claims will be paid at the same time.

c. What is the percentage that I’ll be paid?

Answer: As established above, there is no way to know. The first Visa case paid out at an average rate that was equivalent to 1.1% of Total Credit Card Volume. Your payout is based on your pro rata share of all claims submitted using your Total Interchange Fees to calculate that share. However, since all fees are +1% of Total Volume, the calculation still works as an approximation. Lacking any additional information, using 1% of Total Credit Card Volume would be as good a way as any of estimating the possible payout for your account before subtracting JEL’s fee.

d. What percentage has been claimed from the total $5.6B?

Answer: The claim administrator is very tight-lipped about this data. Moreover, they told us last fall that this information would never be revealed.

e. What is the $ amount submitted for my claim? How do I find out?

Answer: We don’t submit a dollar amount when we submit your claim. We submit just your tax ID and legal name. The claim administrator then uses this information to search Visa’s account records to determine your Total Credit Card Volume. When the claim is Approved, your Total Volume – together with your estimate (if you provided one) is sent to you to Accept or Reject. (This email will come from [email protected].)

• Does the Accept/Reject letter come to us directly from the class administrator or from JEL? And is it an email or actual physical letter?

Answer: The Accept/Reject ‘letter’ is an email that comes from JEL. It will come from [email protected].

• I received a volume Accept/Reject email for some of my companies but not for all of them. When will I receive a volume Accept/Reject email for the remainder?

Answer:  As a fraud prevention measure, the claim administrator has created a lengthy and complicated series of steps for submitting and vetting claims. The result is that some claims take longer than others even when they are for the same client.

When an individual claim is Approved by the claim administrator, meaning there are no outstanding Conflicts, Deficiencies or Rejections, that is the first time we see the Total Volume for that tax ID. We then immediately send the volume Accept/Reject email even though there may be other tax IDs for that same client that are still being vetted and therefore have not yet been Approved. It’s just a matter of going through the steps for each claim/tax ID.

• I have not heard back on the status of those Total Volumes that I’ve already accepted.

Answer: All claims you have Accepted are submitted to the claim administrator as ‘Accepted’. This completes the claim process. These claims now sit in the payout pool awaiting the final calculation of their payout amount.

• I sent you additional information/documents to support my volume dispute but have not heard back. Will someone be responding to that request?

Answer: The research the claim administrator must do to further investigate volume discrepancy claims takes time. We will respond to you when we hear back from them and have something to report.

• The Claim Administrator has reported zero dollars of Total Volume for my tax ID. How is this possible?

Answer: When you receive a zero-volume email, it means the claim administrator could not find any volume associated with your tax ID in it’s database. There are two reasons the Claim Administrator might not have found a volume:

a. You used a Third-Party Credit Card Processing Firm. This is often the case when there is a zero volume. Consequently, the claim administrator has no volume to report because you were not a direct Visa /MasterCard customer.

b. You were a direct Visa/MasterCard Client, and your Tax ID is not correctly linked to Visa/MasterCard’s records in the Claim Administrator’s system.

Please check your Credit Card Processor on your 1099-K associated with your Tax ID. If you are unsure whether you are a Third-Party User or a Direct Visa/ MasterCard client please reply to your zero-volume email with your 1099-K and Sarah, our operations manager, will confirm whether your processor is on the list of defendants.

• What happens if a business has shut down, was sold, changed officers or the authorized signer is no longer with the company?

Answer: First, we are not attorneys and do not dispense legal advice. Consequently, you should discuss your specific situation with a competent legal authority. In doing so, make sure he/she knows how much money is at stake. Using 1% of Total Credit Card Volume would be as good a way as any of conveying this information.

That said, changes in officers or the authorized signer should not affect the claim. So, there is no need to update our records UNLESS the new officer is also our Contact with you. In those cases where it does affect the claim, the claim administrator has established a mechanism for clearing it up. This could involve additional research/documentation on your part, our part or the claim administrator’s part. And, while this will take additional time to play out, it should not jeopardize your claim.

In the case of the dissolution of your company, you will need to be able to deposit the refund check which must be made out to the defunct company. So, you may want to keep its bank account open until payout. If the account is already closed, you should consult an attorney for the best way to proceed. However, we will work with you to make sure you get the refund.

In the case of the sale of your company, the guidelines appear to be:

If the sale was an “Asset Sale”, i.e., the buyer just bought the lease, equipment, etc. and thereafter operated the restaurant under another name and tax ID, the claim remains with you from the start. HOWEVER, if the sale has not yet been concluded, it would still be a good idea to “carve out” the claim in writing in the sale document to be sure it remains with you.

If the sale is a “stock sale” (i.e., the buyer is going to acquire the Tax ID and operate the restaurant under its current name, etc.) the buyer would have the right to the claim. HOWEVER, you can try to have your lawyer “carve out” the claim in writing in the sale document and have it remain with you.

• I recently sold my business; how do I confirm you have my residence address for any proceeds so a check is not mailed to the new owner?

Answer: Ampersand, Inc., our payment service will confirm the Payee name and your address just prior to or coincident with payout. If you sold your business as a stock sale and didn’t specifically claim your right to the refund, this may be an issue.

• What about Toast

Answer: Toast is considered a third party processor. As reported in our 8-12-24 update, all Third Party users can submit a claim but they will have to dispute their zero volumes and then provide documentation to prove their true volume.

• My first accept/reject included fees but my second only included volume and no fees. Is that a concern?

Answer: There is no need to be concerned. In our original Accept/Reject emails, sent out in early May, we found that providing all the various fees and numbers was overwhelming and hard to read. To make the process smoother for our clients we parsed down the email to only include your Total Volume and your Estimate (if you originally provided one) to make it easier for you to decide whether to Accept or Reject your claim.

• What if we don’t have an old merchant id# from 2004-2006? And our accountant does not have any of that info either?

Answer: If you haven’t changed processors since the beginning of the claim then please submit a 1099-K from any year of the claim that you do have. Most companies for tax purposes hold onto records for a minimum of seven years so your accountant should be able to pull something from 2017-2018.

If you changed processors and you didn’t keep records that far back, then you can try contacting your former processor to look for a 1099-K from one of the early years.

However, bottom line, if you can’t prove you had an account, you will probably not get credit for it.

• ABC Fitness Solutions is my Billing Company. Am I able to file?

Answer: We have a number of clients who used ABC Fitness Solutions as their Billing Company. Experience to date suggests that the claim can be filed, so you should do so. However, the Total Volumes reported by the claim administrator have been significantly below expectation, thus we are continuing to investigate this issue. If anything changes, we will update this Answer.

• I have another 15+ restaurants to refer, am I still able to do this?

Answer: Please contact your JEL Account Executive immediately or email Ed at [email protected].

• The emails that I have been sending recently to your company are getting rejected, so I am not sure if it is an issue with your emails or my emails.

Answer: If the emails you are sending to us are being rejected, the problem is likely on your end (e.g., your emails have malware in them). If our emails to you are not getting through, i.e., your system is rejecting them/filtering them out, the problem is likely on our end. We did have a malware issue back in April but our tech team fixed it so you should be getting our emails.

• Did most of the national chains sue on their own?

Answer: They appear to have opted to do so along with many smaller companies. The complete list of companies who opted out may be found here:

https://www.paymentcardsettlement.com/Content/Documents/New%20Docs/Dkt%20No.%207257-2_Settlement%20Agreement.pdf beginning on Page 98.

• Question: The claim process: Why does it take so long?

Answer: The Visa case is the largest class action settlement in US history with a payout fund of $5.75 billion. With that much money ‘in play’ every white collar crook in America is looking for a way to get a refund without actually signing any clients. So, it’s really all about fraud prevention.

To prevent (not just discourage) fraud, the claim administrator has set up an eight-step process for filing a claim that they hope will weed-out at least 99% of fraudulent claims. This, however, greatly slows the process and puts all the honest claimants through some serious extra effort in order to file.

• Question: So what is the eight-step claim submission process?

Answer: After establishing an approved online account with the claim administrator, the eight steps in order are:

1. 1. Submit the Legal Name, unique tax ID and a copy of the client’s signed agreement (for each unique tax ID) to the claim administrator’s portal. 
   2. Under Review: The claim administrator does a thorough review of the submitted claim information. Because of the volumes the claim administrator is receiving, there are backlogs of claims under review that overall can take days or weeks to process. 
   3. Conflict: The first check in the review process is to see if the tax ID that was submitted is also associated with a claim previously submitted by another claimant. If so, the parties are notified and the claim can go no further until the Conflict is resolved. Even though JEL has won upwards of 90% of the conflicts affecting our clients, we still have to go through the effort – which often takes a week or more to resolve. 
   4. Deficiencies: Once a Conflict is resolved, the review process looks at the documentation that was provided. A number of ‘tests’ are performed including matching the tax ID to the legal name, verifying that JEL is authorized to represent the client and verifying that the signer has the authority to sign on behalf of the claimant company. Resolving a deficiency often takes the submission of additional documents to satisfy these tests.
   5. Rejects: Sometimes – despite the submission of seemingly valid proof, the claim administrator refuses to accept it and labels the account as Rejected. This requires additional and stronger documentation in order to fix the issue.
   6. Approved to submit the claim: The claim can now be affirmed as ‘final’. Under ideal circumstances, a claim can go directly from Step a. to Step f., but a significant percent of the time it does not.
   7. Accept/Reject the claim administrator’s numbers: your Total Volume has a direct impact on the size of your refund. So it is important that the claim administrator has the full volume to which you are entitled. If there is a big-enough discrepancy between the Total Volume you estimate and the Total Volume the claim administrator shows for you, you should Reject the claim administrator’s volume and we will help you dispute the number.
   8. Complete the claim: If the client Accepts their Total Volume number, the claim will be affirmed and that is the volume on which their payout will be based.

• Question: All about Conflicts:

Conflicts occur when two or more claims are made for the same tax ID. The most common conflicts occur when clients sign with JEL and then also submit their own claim or when clients sign with JEL and also sign with another claim processing service.

Conflicts must be resolved before the submission process can continue. To resolve a conflict one party must surrender the claim and all parties must then agree to this by confirming a common email that includes the claim administrator. If you find yourself involved with a claim, it is best that you precisely follow the directions we send you and confirm as quickly as possible so that the claim submission process can continue.

• Question: All about Deficiencies (It’s also about fraud protection):

Deficiencies occur when the claim administrator rejects some or all of the data and/or documentation that supports a claim.

The most common reasons for deficiencies include:

1. 1. 1. The tax ID does not match the company Legal Name
      2. The company Legal Name on the agreement does not match the company legal name in Visa’s files
      3. Visa’s files actually list the company’s DBA as the company’s Legal Name so it does not match the legal name on the agreement even though the agreement is correct.
      4. The claim administrator challenges that JEL has been authorized to represent the client
      5. The claim administrator accepts that JEL has been authorized to represent the client but challenges that the signer of the agreement was authorized to sign it.
      6. The signature on the agreement is unreadable or invalid, e.g., typed instead of handwritten. Note: this generally applies to older agreements before JEL moved to the use of DocuSign to execute our agreements.

• If I didn’t receive a request for more information, can I assume you have everything you need?

Answer: Not necessarily. The claim vetting process is lengthy both in time and in the number of steps involved (see The eight-step claim submission process answered above). Your claim could be in the claim administrator’s backlog of claims that are “Under Review”. Until it is reviewed, we won’t know if there is a Deficiency that could require more information from you.