The Justice Department sued Visa on Tuesday, accusing the credit card company of illegally maintaining a monopoly over the debit market.
The DOJ argues that Visa has limited competition by entering into exclusive agreements with merchants and banks that force most or all of their transactions to run on Visa’s network.
It also allegedly paid-off or threatened potential rivals with additional fees in order to avoid competition, particularly from tech and fintech companies, according to an agency press release.
“We allege that Visa has unlawfully amassed the power to extract fees that far exceed what it could charge in a competitive market,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
“Merchants and banks pass along those costs to consumers, either by raising prices or reducing quality or service,” he continued. “As a result, Visa’s unlawful conduct affects not just the price of one thing – but the price of nearly everything.”
Developing
