Lloyd Constantine of Constantine & Partners, the lawyer representing the merchant class in the antitrust case against Visa U.S.A. and MasterCard International, announced today that the final settlement agreements for this lawsuit have been signed by the parties involved.

"The pay out to merchants will be easy, fair, and equitable. The payment amount will be based on a merchant's volume of debit card transactions between October 25, 1992 and the May 2003 settlement," said Lloyd Constantine, the lead counsel for the merchants and a principle in the New York firm Constantine & Partners. "The changes in Visa and MasterCard's business practices, beginning August 1, will bring even larger economic benefits for merchants as offline debit interchange fees drop. In the long run, this settlement offers more choice and a positive pricing effect for consumers."

Wells Fargo has announce a new anti-fraud initiative to protect its customers from fraudulent checks and ACH transactions.

"Not all bandits walk into banks and demand money. Behind-the-scenes thieves are also a threat," said Steve Ellis, head of Wells Fargo's Wholesale Services. "There are organized gangs of criminals printing counterfeit checks, altering payees' names on checks, and sending unauthorized electronic debits (withdrawals) to accounts. We're as committed to stopping them as Wells Fargo was to stopping stagecoach robbers in our company's early days. First and foremost, we want to protect our customers' assets."