Finance
Visa Sued by US in Antitrust Case Over Debit Card Markets
- DOJ alleges Visa paid tech rivals to stay out of debit market
- Case grew out of yearslong probe into payments giant
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The US Justice Department sued Visa Inc., alleging the global payments giant illegally monopolized the debit card market, in the Biden administration’s first major antitrust case in the financial services industry.
Antitrust enforcers alleged in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court Tuesday that Visa, which handles more than 60% of the more than $4 trillion in US debit transactions each year, entered into a series of agreements penalizing merchants who sought to use alternatives and paid potential rivals to stay out of the market.