The U.S. Department of Justice has accused Visa of illegally maintaining a monopoly over debit card networks by using its dominance to thwart competition from new and existing rivals.

According to the suit, Visa provides steep discounts on transaction fees for merchants and their banks, as well as financial institutions that issue debit cards, when they agree to route all or most of their transactions through Visa's networks. The fees Visa charges without the agreements, known as rack rates, are allegedly so high, they effectively exclude other debit networks from competing.

You may have claims if:

• You are a business that started accepting Visa branded debit cards after January 25, 2019 located in any of the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, District of Columbia.

Or

• an acquirer bank (a merchant’s bank that acquires the payment) in any state within the United States. An acquirer bank is the financial institution that processes debit card payments on behalf of a merchant. Acquirer banks serve as an intermediary between the merchant and the issuer bank (the bank that issued the debit or credit card to the customer). In the DOJ's complaint, it is alleged that the tactics Visa used prevented acquirer banks from choosing other routing networks for processing debit transactions, even when other networks might be available and potentially more cost-effective for merchants.

A copy of the DOJ’s filed complaint can be viewed here: Visa Debit DOJ Complaint - 1882000-1882051-show_temp (2)

WHAT CAN YOU DO NOW? If your company is located in any of the states listed above and started accepting Visa branded debit cards after January 25, 2019, or if you are a merchant-side acquirer bank that processes debit card payments for merchants, you may have been overcharged and may be entitled to recover financial damages and a court approved service award, at no cost to you. 

A copy of the no-cost retainer letter can be viewed here: Visa Debit Card- Sample Retainer Letter

If you would like to learn more about this matter, you are encouraged to contact Joshua H. Grabar us at [email protected], or call 267-507-6085.