A federal magistrate judge in Newark, N.J., gave preliminary approval on Tuesday to an $8.4 million settlement of a class action alleging prepaid calling cards did not provide the quantity of minutes advertised.

The deal, which will come before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo for a fairness hearing on Nov. 16, will affect hundreds of thousands of people who bought STi Prepaid cards from 2001 until the present.