Mastercard Resumes Antitrust Lobbying

According to Politico, Mastercard is getting into antitrust lobbying for the first time in years. The payment giant hired The Duberstein Group at the end of May to lobby several other issues the company typically lobbies on including payment transactions, cybersecurity, virtual currency, trade and sanctions, and consumer products, according to the newly filed disclosure. 

Analysis of filings shows that despite retaining a sizable bench of outside lobbying firms that includes The Raben Group, CGCN Group, Sidley Austin, and Tiber Creek Group, Mastercard hasn’t reported lobbying lawmakers on antitrust issues since 2014.

Mastercard and rival credit card company Visa were recently hit with a class-action lawsuit from small businesses accusing the card companies of conspiring with banks to increase transaction fees for purchases made through Square payment systems, after Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (Democrat – Illinois) blasted the two’s “duopoly” on swipe fees at an antitrust hearing in March.

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