Key Takeaways
- Visa shares fell Tuesday morning following reports that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is preparing an antitrust lawsuit against the payment processor.
- The DOJ could file a suit as soon as Tuesday accusing the company of using monopolistic tactics to retain its top spot in the payments market, Bloomberg and The New York Times reported.
- A suit would be the latest in a string of recent antitrust moves from the DOJ and Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Visa (V) shares slipped amid reports that the payment processing giant is likely to be sued by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as soon as Tuesday over allegedly monopolistic behavior to protect its dominant position in the debit card market.
The DOJ is preparing to accuse Visa of using tactics like exclusive agreements to prevent competitors from growing large enough to challenge its dominant position, Bloomberg reported Monday night. In a subsequent report, The New York Times said the DOJ is also planning to allege that Visa penalizes customers for using a different payment processing service.
A potential suit would follow years of investigative work from regulators after an antitrust lawsuit led Visa and competing payment processor Plaid to abandon merger talks in January 2021. The DOJ said at the time that the planned $5.3 billion merger was an example of Visa’s monopolistic behavior, as it looked to acquire a potential rival before it was large enough to effectively challenge it.
Suit Would Be Latest Antitrust Move From DOJ, FTC
The reportedly imminent lawsuit would be the latest move from the DOJ and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in recent years to use antitrust laws to block mergers and challenge dominant companies like Ticketmaster parent Live Nation (LYV), Meta Platforms (META), Apple (AAPL), and Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL).
Neither Visa nor the DOJ immediately responded to an Investopedia request for comment.
Visa shares fell 3.7% to $278.04 soon after markets opened Tuesday. They are up about 7% this year.