The DOJ intends to argue that Visa penalizes customers choosing other payment services|Hakan Dahlstrom|CC BY 2.0
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is preparing to file an antitrust lawsuit against the world’s largest payment network operator, Visa, for alleged anticompetitive conduct by illegally monopolizing the debit card market in the US, reports Bloomberg.
It would be the latest move in the Biden administration’s broader effort to address anticompetitive practices across various industries, including recent lawsuits against companies like Apple, Google, Amazon and Live Nation.
The DOJ plans to argue that Visa’s payment processing technology, which connects a bank to a merchant, penalizes customers trying to use competing services. An investigation has been ongoing for years, involving interviews with banks, retailers and grocery stores.
Not the first
In 2020, the DOJ blocked Visa’s $5.3 billion acquisition of fintech Plaid, accusing Visa of trying to stifle young competition.