Justice Department Investigating Visa Over Debit-Card Practices
20 March 2021 - 2:05AM
Dow Jones News
By AnnaMaria Andriotis and Brent Kendall
The Justice Department is investigating whether Visa Inc. is
engaging in anticompetitive practices in the debit-card market,
according to people familiar with the matter.
The department's antitrust division has been gathering
information and asking whether Visa, the largest U.S. card network,
has limited merchants' ability to route debit-card transactions
over card networks that are often less expensive, the people said.
Many of the department's questions have focused on online
debit-card transactions, but investigators have asked about
in-store issues as well, the people said.
The probe highlights the important role of the so-called network
fees that are invisible to consumers, lucrative for card companies,
but a weight on merchants, who often pass on the fees in the form
of higher prices to customers.
It comes as Justice Department antitrust enforcers across
administrations have placed an emphasis on scrutinizing
digital-marketplace activities, including in the financial sector,
and on investigating the business practices of dominant firms.
In the new probe, the department is considering whether Visa's
practices are likewise allowing it to maintain a dominant market
share unlawfully, the people said.
A Visa spokesman declined to comment. The Justice Department
didn't immediately comment.
Write to AnnaMaria Andriotis at annamaria.andriotis@wsj.com and
Brent Kendall at brent.kendall@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 19, 2021 10:50 ET (14:50 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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