The U.S. Justice Department plans to accuse Visa Inc. of illegally monopolizing the U.S. debit card market, people accustomed to the matter say.
The antitrust agency is predicted to file a lawsuit later Tuesday accusing the operator of the most important U.S. payments network of a variety of anticompetitive behavior, said the people, who asked to not be identified to debate the case. The government is predicted to take the case to federal court.
Antitrust regulators are preparing to charge Visa with taking steps to stop rivals from dominating the debit card market, the people accustomed to the matter said. The government’s allegations include that Visa entered into exclusive deals to hamper the expansion of rival networks and thwart efforts by technology corporations to enter the market.
Visa and the Justice Department declined to comment.
The Justice Department’s lawsuit could be the culmination of years of investigations into visas Business practices. The study arose from the failed takeover of monetary technology infrastructure company Plaid Inc. in 2021.
During the investigation, the Justice Department also examined visas Price structure in what is thought within the industry as “tokenization” technology.
Payment network competitor Mastercard Inc. has settled a separate enforcement proceeding last 12 months The aim is to combat tokenization technology practices by the US Federal Trade Commission, which can also be liable for enforcing antitrust law.
– With support from Paige Smith.
