The U.S. Department of Justice is preparing to file a lawsuit against Visa Inc. as early as today, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The lawsuit, which is expected to be filed in federal court, will accuse Visa of a range of anticompetitive conduct to keep its monopoly in the debit card payments industry.
“The government’s allegations include that Visa made exclusive agreements to hinder the expansion of competing networks and thwarted efforts by technology companies to enter the market,” Bloomberg wrote.
According to The New York Times, the lawsuit is “the result of a sweeping investigation that dates back years.” Over the investigation, the Justice Department conducted hundreds of interviews with retailers, grocery stores and banks to understand Visa’s agreements with financial technology firms.
Last year, the DOJ’s antitrust division issued an investigative demand to Visa, seeking documents and information about its U.S. debit card practices as part of a probe that began in 2021, Reuters reported. The investigation began after Visa’s failed acquisition of financial technology infrastructure firm Plaid Inc.
Bloomberg also reported that over the course of the inquiry, the Justice Department “also examined Visa’s pricing structure in what’s known in the industry as ‘tokenization’ technology.”
NACS has been a leader in the fight against Visa and Mastercard’s duopoly and anti-competitive practices. To lend your voice to this effort, you can take action today and send a letter to your lawmakers in support of the Credit Card Competition Act.