Visa, Mastercard Draw FTC Inquiry Over Debit Card Transactions
- Merchants, trade groups contacted as part of preliminary probe
- Mastercard is cooperating with FTC’s request, spokesman says
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
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Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. are once again in the crosshairs of U.S. antitrust regulators over policies that can prohibit merchants from routing card transactions over alternative debit networks.
The Federal Trade Commission has been reaching out to large merchants and their trade groups over the issue as part of a preliminary inquiry, according to people with knowledge of the matter. At issue is whether Visa and Mastercard and large debit card issuers are blocking retailers from routing some mobile wallet payments and tap-to-pay transactions over alternative networks such as Pulse, NYCE and Star, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the inquiry isn’t public.