Before the $197.5 million Visa/Mastercard ATM settlement releases payments to claimants, several critical steps must happen in sequence—and they’re already underway. The court issued final approval on June 23, 2025, which triggered the settlement administrator’s processing phase. Now the focus is on validating claims, calculating individual amounts, and preparing the fund distribution.
If you submitted a claim and are wondering what’s happening behind the scenes, the short answer is this: your claim is being verified for fraud, potentially requiring you to provide additional information if flagged, while settlement administrators prepare the final payout calculations that will determine whether you receive 23-38% of your unreimbursed ATM surcharge fees. This article walks through the exact steps before payments reach your account, what to do if you receive a deficiency notice, the timeline for the first payments (expected Winter 2026), and what “pro rata” distribution means for your check amount. Understanding this process helps you know whether your claim is on track and what actions you should take if contacted.
Table of Contents
- How Many Claims Actually Made It Through Fraud Review?
- Why So Many Claims Were Rejected—And What That Means for Remaining Claimants
- Deficiency Notices and the 45-60 Day Window to Fix Your Claim
- The Processing Phases Before Your Money Is Actually Distributed
- Understanding Pro Rata Payments and Why Your Amount Might Be Less Than You Expect
- What Happens During the 90-Day Hold After the Judge Signs Off
- When to Expect Your Payment and How the Waves Work
How Many Claims Actually Made It Through Fraud Review?
The scale of this settlement is staggering—63,506,549 claims were submitted, but only 296,877 qualified as valid after settlement administrators reviewed them for fraud and completeness. That’s less than half of one percent approval rate. The overwhelming majority of the 63+ million rejected claims failed because they couldn’t provide sufficient documentation of atm surcharge fees, submitted duplicate claims across accounts, or had incomplete submission information. The settlement administrator (AB Data) flagged these as ineligible before the money allocation even began.
For the 296,877 approved claims, this means your claim passed the initial fraud screening and is now in the fund calculation phase. However, “approved” doesn’t mean finalized—some claimants received deficiency notices requiring them to supply additional documentation within 45-60 days. If you didn’t receive a deficiency notice, your claim is in the clear for the next step. If you did receive one, responding promptly is essential because missing that window could cost you your payout.
Why So Many Claims Were Rejected—And What That Means for Remaining Claimants
The rejection rate wasn’t arbitrary or harsh; it reflects the nature of ATM surcharge claims. ATM receipts are ephemeral—people lose them, bank statements don’t always itemize surcharge fees clearly, and many claimants couldn’t reconstruct which ATM transactions they used out-of-network. The settlement required verified evidence of surcharge payments, not just a claim to have used ATMs over the class period. Settlement administrators had to balance preventing fraud with practical realities of proof.
However, if your claim is among the 296,877 approved, the remaining rejections are now irrelevant to your payout. The settlement only distributes funds among valid claims, meaning the ~$133.9 million available (after attorney fees, expenses, and administration costs of ~$63.6 million) will be divided solely among those 296,877 claimants. This is actually advantageous for you—a smaller valid claimant pool means higher pro rata payments per person. If the settlement had approved all 63+ million claims, your individual payment would be negligible.
Deficiency Notices and the 45-60 Day Window to Fix Your Claim
If you received a deficiency notice from AB Data or the settlement website, it means your claim passed initial screening but raised questions during fraud review or completeness checks. Common deficiency reasons include: missing or unclear supporting documents, an ATM surcharge amount that seemed inconsistent with typical fees, or information gaps in your submission. The notice provides a specific deadline—typically 45-60 days from the notice date—to submit additional information. If you’re in this situation, respond immediately.
Claimants who miss the deficiency window lose their claim, even if the additional documentation would have qualified them. Typical supporting materials include bank statements showing ATM surcharges, ATM receipts if you still have them, credit card or debit card statements from the settlement period (roughly 2010-2022, depending on the ATM network), or written attestations if original documentation is unavailable. The settlement administrator reviews resubmissions within a few weeks, and if your additional materials satisfy their concerns, your claim moves back into the approved pool. Don’t assume the deficiency notice means automatic rejection—many claims recover after resubmission.
The Processing Phases Before Your Money Is Actually Distributed
Between court approval and the first payments hitting accounts, five key phases happen in sequence. First, the settlement administrator (AB Data) completed the claims validation phase described above. Second, they’re now calculating the fund distribution—determining the total valid claim amount (sum of all approved claimants’ unreimbursed surcharge fees) so they can compute the pro rata percentage. This phase typically takes 4-8 weeks. Third, the judge must sign off on the final distribution motion, confirming the math and the payout plan.
Fourth, once the judge signs, a 90-day clock begins before distribution can legally commence. During this 90 days, funds are held in escrow and nothing is disbursed. Fifth, after the 90-day clock expires, the settlement administrator releases payments in waves. This phased approach exists for legal reasons—it ensures all deficiency-window deadlines have passed, appeals periods are exhausted, and all calculations are final before money moves. You can’t speed this up by contacting the settlement, but you can track progress by checking the official settlement website (atmclassaction.com) for updates on which phase is currently active.
Understanding Pro Rata Payments and Why Your Amount Might Be Less Than You Expect
Pro rata distribution is how ATM settlement payout amounts are calculated, and it’s the most important concept to understand for realistic expectations. Here’s how it works: the settlement didn’t promise to repay 100% of your ATM surcharges. Instead, it pays a percentage of each claimant’s unreimbursed surcharge fees, determined by dividing the total available settlement funds by the total claimed surcharge amount across all approved claims. Early estimates suggest claimants will receive 23-38% of their unreimbursed fees, depending on the final approved claim total.
For example, if you paid $150 in ATM surcharges and the pro rata percentage turns out to be 30%, your payment would be $45. If another claimant had $250 in surcharges, they’d receive $75. The exact percentage won’t be known until all deficiency disputes are resolved and the final calculation is complete. A limitation here: if you underestimated your total surcharge amount when filing your claim, you can’t adjust it after approval. The claim amount you submitted is locked in, so if you forgot to include surcharges from a particular bank or year, those fees won’t be part of the calculation.
What Happens During the 90-Day Hold After the Judge Signs Off
Once the judge signs the final distribution order (expected by fall 2025, though this can slip), the settlement enters a 90-day legal hold period. During these three months, the money sits in an interest-bearing escrow account, untouched. This waiting period serves a critical purpose: it allows any last-minute appeals, objections, or legal challenges to surface while funds are still protected. It also ensures the deficiency window has fully closed and no additional claims can be filed or adjusted.
You don’t need to do anything during this 90-day hold. The settlement administrator and judge are handling all the backend work. Some claimants worry this period signals a problem or that their claim is in jeopardy—it’s not. It’s a standard legal procedure in settlement distributions. Once the 90 days conclude, the clock is finally clear for payments to begin.
When to Expect Your Payment and How the Waves Work
First payments are expected to begin in Winter 2026, with a window of December 2025 through April 2026, though earlier estimates suggested April-June 2026. Settlement administrators typically don’t mail or deposit all payments simultaneously; instead, they release them in waves or batches over several weeks. You might receive your payment in the first wave (December or January), or you might be in a later batch (February, March, or April).
This staggered approach prevents banking system bottlenecks and gives the settlement administrator time to verify addresses and resolve any payment issues. The exact schedule will be announced on the official settlement website closer to the start date. Some claimants receive direct deposits if they submitted banking information; others receive check payments by mail. If you moved since filing your claim, update your address on the settlement portal now—payments sent to old addresses create delays or rejections that take weeks to resolve.
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