US Justice Department accuses Visa of illegal monopoly that adds to the price of 'nearly everything'
By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN
Updated 4:06 PM EDT, Tue September 24, 2024
The US Justice Department filed a lawsuit Tuesday accusing Visa of illegally monopolizing the debit card market.
For more than a decade, the department alleges, Visa has abused its dominant positionin the debit card market to force businesses to use Visa’s network instead of competitors’, and to stop new alternatives from entering the market.
“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. As a result, Visa’s unlawful conduct affects not just the price of one thing – but the price of nearly everything.”
SNIP
According to the new complaint against Visa, which was filed in federal court in New York, more than 60% of debit transactions in the country take place on Visa’s debit network. Visa, in turn, is able to charge more than $7 billion in processing fees on those transactions, the department says.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/24/business/visa-doj-lawsuit?Date=20240924&Profile=cnnbrk&utm_content=1727203322&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
What justice looks like.