Visa, Mastercard, major banks facing new litigation over 'anticompetitive' fees
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
Visa, Mastercard, and major banks face a class action lawsuit over alleged anticompetitive credit card transaction fees.
A class action lawsuit alleges Visa, Mastercard, and some of America's largest banks conspired to artificially inflate merchants' credit card transaction fees. The suit claims this anticompetitive behavior allows them to charge high fees without losing customers, behaving like a cartel or monopoly. The EU caps consumer card interchange fees at 0.2% for debit cards and 0.3% for credit cards.
What commenters are saying
Commenters largely agree that high fees are a result of anticompetitive practices, not competitive ones. They note that card network deals prevent merchants from using price signals with consumers, and that reward programs shift costs. Some point to alternative payment systems like Brazil's PIX and India's UPI as threats to Visa and Mastercard. The EU's fee caps are cited as a potential model, though commenters question whether US courts can impose such caps without legislation.