Visa Faces Justice Department Probe On Debit Card Processes

Visa Inc. is facing a probe from the Justice Department concerning allegedly anticompetitive processes in the debit card industry, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. The antitrust arm of the Justice Department has been collecting data and asked if Visa had restricted the ability for retailers to send debit card transactions through card networks that often come at a lower cost.

A representative of Visa did not comment, as per The Wall Street Journal, while the Justice Department did not immediately provide a comment.

As previously reported, Visa recently opted out of its planned $5.3 billion purchase of Plaid following objections stemming from a Justice Department suit. The suit challenged the purchase, contending that it would put Visa in a position to keep a monopoly in the online debit card market.

“We are confident we would have prevailed in court as Plaid’s capabilities are complementary to Visa’s, not competitive,” Visa CEO Al Kelly said in a statement in January. “… However, it has been a full year since we first announced our intent to acquire Plaid, and protracted and complex litigation will likely take substantial time to fully resolve.”