Why the Justice Department is Targeting Visa

Published On Sep 24, 2024, 8:05 AM

The Biden administration is gearing up to sue Visa over alleged antitrust violations. The Justice Department's lawsuit aims to challenge Visa's monopolistic practices, particularly in payment processing, which allegedly punish merchants for using competing services. Prosecutors argue that Visa coerces financial tech companies like Square, Stripe, and PayPal by imposing penalties, thus stifling competition. This legal action continues from a prior case where the Justice Department blocked Visa's proposed acquisition of fintech company Plaid, asserting that Visa has maintained a dominant position in the debit market through exclusionary tactics.

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Visa is facing significant regulatory challenges that could lead to increased scrutiny and potential fines, which might negatively impact its stock performance. This legal battle may create uncertainties for investors regarding Visa's future profitability and market position.

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Paul Pelosi, the husband of former House Speaker and current California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, sold 2,000 shares of Visa a few months before the company was sued by the government.

The Department of Justice said Visa's actions had slowed competition and raised prices across the economy.

The U.S. Department of Justice sued Visa for alleged antitrust violations on Tuesday, accusing one of the world's largest payment networks of suppressing competition by threatening merchants with high fees and paying off potential rivals. Visa processes more than 60% of debit transactions in the U.S., bringing it $7 billion each year in fees collected when transactions are routed over its network, the Justice Department said. The company protects that dominance through agreements with card issuers, merchants, and competitors, prosecutors allege.