Visa, Mastercard Near Settlement in Long-Running Merchant Fight

Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. are close to a new agreement that will attempt to settle a two-decade legal spat with merchants, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

The credit card companies will make changes to lower interchange fees by an average of 10 basis points over several years under the terms of the deal, said the person, who asked not to be identified before the agreement was announced. The accord will also loosen rules that require merchants to accept all Visa or Mastercard credit cards if they accept any cards from the network, the person ...