Visa Stock Slips Amid Reports DOJ Is Preparing Antitrust Suit

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.