The complaint filed this week says San Francisco-based Visa penalizes merchants and banks who don’t use Visa’s own payment processing technology to process debit transactions, even though alternatives exist. Visa earns an incremental fee from every transaction processed on its network.
According to the DOJ’s complaint, 60% of debit transactions in the United States run on Visa’s debit network, allowing it to charge over $7 billion in fees each year for processing those transactions.
“We allege that Visa has unlawfully amassed the power to extract fees that far exceed what it could charge in a competitive market,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in a statement. “Merchants and banks pass along those costs to consumers, either by raising prices or reducing quality or service. As a result, Visa’s unlawful conduct affects not just the price of one thing – but the price of nearly everything.”
In a statement, Julie Rottenberg, Visa’s general counsel, said the lawsuit doesn’t take into account the “ever-expanding universe of companies offering new ways to pay for goods and services.”
“Today’s lawsuit ignores the reality that Visa is just one of many competitors in a debit space that is growing, with entrants who are thriving,” Rottenberg said. She added the lawsuit is “meritless” and the company will defend itself “vigorously.”
This story is from the September 27, 2024 edition of AppleMagazine.
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This story is from the September 27, 2024 edition of AppleMagazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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