Millions of shoppers can £70 each after court approval of settlement in a lawsuit against Mastercard, which stems from historical fees levied by the stock provider on the business.

The decision was conducted in a long-term legal case filed by a former financial ombudsman.

Walter Merricks argued that shoppers were charged higher prices after mischarging fees in 15 years of transactions between 1992 and 2008.

There is no Mastercard eligible for compensation at any time. Mastercard declined to comment on the court ruling.

Consumers are eligible to claim compensation if they live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland for at least three months between June 1997 and June 2008 and purchase goods or services from UK businesses that accept Mastercard credit cards.

For those living in Scotland, the starting point is May 1992.

The entire solution is priced at £200 million, with £100 million of consumers claiming by the end of the year, and if the expected 5% of the claimants (2.5 million) come forward, everyone will receive £45.

If there are fewer applicants, the payment will be £70 per claimant.

Mr Merricks said consumers will soon be able to sign up to get their expenses by filling out the online form.

He made his claim after the European Commission ruled in 2007 that Mastercard's "multilateral transaction fees" violated the "multilateral swap fees" of competition law since 1992.

The fees are paid by the retailer that accepts Mastercard payments, not by the consumer themselves.

But Mr Merricks said that despite the retailers paying for the fees, shoppers lost because of the fees being passed through higher prices for goods and services.

He claims 46 million shoppers in the UK are overcharged.

Any unclaimed cash is expected to be handed over to the company that funded the lawsuit.

The Competition Court of Appeal approved a settlement in a class action case Tuesday.

Commenting on the results, Mr Merricks said he started the case because he believed that “the fees paid by retailers to process Mastercards for card exchanges are illegally higher”.

He added: "Almost all UK consumers lose the long term by paying for higher prices than retailers through these fees."

“The solution approved today is a fair and impartial outcome for UK consumers.”