Mastercard Inc. has agreed in principle to pay around £200 million ($254 million) to settle a UK class action lawsuit, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Mastercard has reached an agreement in principle to settle a collective London lawsuit brought on behalf of British consumers over card fees, it said on Tuesday. The global payments processor was facing a lawsuit brought by consumer champion Walter Merricks on behalf of approximately 46 million adults in the United Kingdom.

The litigation funder says it will be challenging the £200 million settlement which was reached on Tuesday, which it argues is "too low and premature".

A settlement has been reached in the landmark UK collective action against Mastercard over the alleged overcharging of credit card fees that was at one point valued at £17bn. The deal, which is subject to the approval of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), ends nearly nine years of litigation.

Mastercard has reached an agreement in principle to settle a groundbreaking legal claim brought on behalf of approximately 46 million UK consumers, who alleged the payments company imposed unfairly hi

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) reached an agreement in principle regarding a lawsuit brought on behalf of U.K. consumers over card fees, the company said on Tuesday. The Competition Appeal Tribunal said the entire claim stated by the claimants' lawyers was about GBP 10B (US$12.