The U.S. Justice Department Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Visa

In a move that has grabbed headlines, the U.S. Justice Department has taken a bold step by filing an antitrust lawsuit against Visa. This lawsuit is part of a recent trend by the Biden administration to target alleged monopolistic practices in the market.

The lawsuit alleges that Visa, a financial services giant, has been using its size and dominance to stifle competition in the debit card market, ultimately costing consumers and businesses billions of dollars. The complaint, filed on Tuesday, points out that Visa penalizes merchants and banks who do not use Visa’s payment processing technology for debit transactions, despite the existence of viable alternatives. Visa earns additional fees from every transaction processed on its network, further solidifying its grip on the market.

According to the DOJ’s complaint, Visa controls 60% of debit transactions in the United States, allowing them to rake in over $7 billion in fees annually for processing those transactions. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland stated, “We allege that Visa has unlawfully amassed the power to extract fees that far exceed what it could charge in a competitive market. These costs are then passed on to consumers, either through higher prices or reduced quality, impacting the price of nearly everything.”