The US Justice Department is probing Visa’s relationships with large fintech companies as part of its antitrust investigation of the card giant, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
Antitrust investigators are looking into the financial incentives that Visa gave Square, Stripe Inc and Paypal Holdings, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
The company said earlier in March the Justice Department was looking at its debit practices after reports that the United States was investigating whether Visa uses anti-competitive practices in the debit-card market.
To send transactions over Visa’s rails, fintech firms pay fees that Visa sets. Some fintech companies enable payments that bypass Visa and other major card networks. For example, some allow payments to travel from one bank account to another, without using card rails. Visa has at times offered to lower fees or give other rewards in exchange for fintech firms sending more transactions over Visa rails rather than other networks or technologies.
Pricing arrangements of interest to the DOJ include one where Visa offered financial incentives to PayPal, according to the report.
The Justice Department had previously investigated the credit card payments industry but settled with Visa and Mastercard in 2010 when they agreed to allow merchants to offer consumers incentives to use a low-cost credit card.
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
Teresa Ribera Prepares to Tackle Big Tech and Green Growth as EU’s Next Antitrust Chief
Nov 12, 2024 by
CPI
Japanese Law Firm TMI Associates Broadens EU Reach with Brussels Office
Nov 12, 2024 by
CPI
Meta to Offer EU Users Option for Less Personalized Ads Amid Regulatory Scrutiny
Nov 12, 2024 by
CPI
EU Orders Apple to End Geo-Blocking on Digital Services
Nov 12, 2024 by
CPI
Spain’s Antitrust Regulator to Extend Review of BBVA’s Sabadell Takeover
Nov 12, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Remedies Revisited
Oct 30, 2024 by
CPI
Fixing the Fix: Updating Policy on Merger Remedies
Oct 30, 2024 by
CPI
Methodology Matters: The 2017 FTC Remedies Study
Oct 30, 2024 by
CPI
U.S. v. AT&T: Five Lessons for Vertical Merger Enforcement
Oct 30, 2024 by
CPI
The Search for Antitrust Remedies in Tech Leads Beyond Antitrust
Oct 30, 2024 by
CPI