News

Supreme Court dismisses Visa, MasterCard case against ATM independents

November 22, 2016

Before oral arguments had even begun, the United States Supreme Court last week dismissed a case brought by Visa and MasterCard raising the question whether members of a business association can stand in violation of antitrust law by agreeing to abide by that association's rules.

At issue in Visa v. Osborne were ATM access fee rules imposed by the Visa and MasterCard networks, which the banks have agreed to abide by and enforce.

These rules prohibit independent ATM operators from discounting fees paid by consumers for ATM access provided by lower-cost networks that compete with Visa and MasterCard.

The defendant in the case contended that consumers are harmed by being forced to pay artificially high fees because of the major networks' rule.

The Supreme Court agreed in August to hear the case, and oral arguments were scheduled to begin Dec. 7.

However, in an amicus brief submitted in October, the ATM Industry Association argued that the petitioners' brief had improperly expanded their argument, in effect seeking immunity from Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Antitrust attorneys for ATMIA cited these improper claims, the competitive issues at stake and well-settled law, and asked the court to reject the petitioners' attempt to immunize themselves from scrutiny under the Sherman Act. 

"Having persuaded us to grant certiorari on this issue … petitioners chose to rely on a different argument in their merits briefing," the court wrote in its decision. "The [c]ourt, therefore, orders that the writs in these cases be dismissed as improvidently granted."

"This is a huge win for the ATM industry," said ATMIA USA Executive Director David Tente. "[This] decision clears the way for pending antitrust cases to continue, and leaves the door open for future claims that industry stakeholders may wish to pursue."

Included In This Story

---

ATM Industry Association (ATMIA)

The ATM Industry Association, founded in 1997, is a global non-profit trade association with over 10,500 members in 65 countries. The membership base covers the full range of this worldwide industry comprising over 2.2 million installed ATMs.

Request Info

Learn More