EVO Facing Claims It Charges Excessive Payment Processing Fees

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

A proposed class action lawsuit filed by Central Florida Liquidation and Sales, LLC and L & M Enterprises USA, LLC alleges defendants EVO Payments International, LLC and EVO Merchant Services, LLC charge improper and excessive fees to process credit and debit card transactions.

The 18-page complaint claims the defendants have for many years perpetrated a scheme whereby they induce mom-and-pop merchants to use EVO’s services with “the promise of low, straightforward pricing” only to impose new fees and mark-ups so deceptively that they’re “difficult for merchants to even notice them.”

“Moreover, even if a merchant does notice the new or increased charges, they are labeled in such a manner to appear as though they are required by law or by one of the card networks,” the lawsuit elaborates. “In reality, however, these improper fees are being assessed for the sole purpose of raising additional revenue and profit at the merchant’s expense.”

The plaintiffs, a fixture seller and firearms and customs knives retailer who are no longer EVO customers, take particular issue with the defendants’ “Merchant Processing Agreement,” which the case says is attached to the Merchant Application that lays out the terms agreed upon in exchange for use of EVO’s services. Once a business signs the Merchant Application, EVO “almost immediately begins increasing charges and cramming merchants with fees that are inconsistent with the agreed-upon charges,” the lawsuit alleges, and even adds new categories of fees that are not mentioned in the initial application.