Payments executives who may be hoping that a court ruling Tuesday will put an end to years of bitter wrangling over card-acceptance costs are likely to be disappointed, experts tell Digital Transactions News.

“This does not end the argument. It just stifles it,” says Cliff Gray, principal at Gray Consulting Ventures, a Chicago-based payments advisory. Adds Aaron McPherson, principal at AFM Consulting LLC: “While certainly significant, the settlement by no means ends the argument.”

These opinions come as a federal court in Brooklyn on Tuesday ruled that a settlement reached between banks and merchants in a hotly contested, 21-year-old class-action case is “fair, reasonable, and adequate.” The court’s approval, however, is preliminary, leaving merchants hopeful and banks and processors wary. The settlement projects merchants would save $38 billion in acceptance costs over five years.

Merchants have for decades fought interchange, the cost they pay to payments acquirers and processors on each card transaction they accept. That battle has left scars, observers say. “While the settlement grants merchants modest economic relief and additional tools to pressure the networks, and allows Mastercard and Visa to eliminate a massive, existential legal risk, nobody should expect the mega-retailers to go quietly,” says Eric Grover, principal at the consultancy Intrepid Ventures.

Indeed, merchants disappointed by the outcome of the case are looking for the court to deny final approval of the settlement. “The vast majority of merchants oppose this proposed settlement,” says Doug Kantor, general counsel at the National Association of Convenience Stores, in a statement. “We expect many more objections to be filed that will present the court with clear evidence of the profound problems with this settlement that would make the already broken credit card market even worse.”

“We are hopeful that the judge will refuse to grant final approval, and that merchants will have their day in court,” Kantor adds.

Some observers argue the merchants may have a case, given how long the dispute has already lingered in and out of court. “Ten basis points [on interchange] is not much of a concession, given interchange pricing, especially given all the advances in the … years since this suit was initiated,” says Gray.

That could lead to further litigation, extending the case at least another two years, some experts say. “I would assume if Judge Cogan grants final approval, which is more likely than not, that major merchants will appeal it, potentially pushing the ultimate resolution out into 2028,” notes Grover. Brian Cogan is the presiding judge in the case.

For now, some observers are calculating the possible consequences if the current resolution stands. One scenario, argues McPherson, is that consumers could “face discrimination based on their choice of card, and with it the loss of their rewards, plus ever expanding- surcharges, all for the speculative benefit of lower prices in the future.”

Meanwhile, he points out, “Federal legislation restricting credit card interchange is still under consideration.”