06:43 AM EDT, 06/14/2024 (MT Newswires) -- A $30 billion agreement to settle antitrust claims by merchants against payment card companies Visa (V) and Mastercard ( MA ) was in danger of collapsing Thursday after a New York judge signaled she was planning to reject it, news outlets reported.

US District Judge Margo Brodie told lawyers for the card companies and those opposed to the deal that she will "likely not approve the settlement," Reuters reported, citing court records.

The proposed $30 billion payout by the card companies was 19 years in the making, spurred by retailer complaints that the payment networks were charging them too much in swipe fees and placing obstacles to prevent businesses from pursuing other payment methods, news outlets reported.

Such fees totaled $172 billion in 2023, Reuters reported. Under the agreement, the card companies would lower fees averaging 1.5% to 3.5% by at least 0.04% for three years, cap rates for five years, and refrain from measures to use alternative payment systems, Reuters said.

The National Retail Federation, a trade group, opposed the settlement as "insufficient" and called its remedies "meager and temporary," according to Reuters.

A Mastercard ( MA ) spokesperson said the company was "disappointed" by the development and was pursuing other options to resolve the matter. "We believe the settlement presented a fair resolution of this long-standing dispute, most notably by giving business owners more flexibility in how they manage their card acceptance activities," the spokesman said.

Visa did not immediately reply to MT Newswires' request for comment.

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