STRATEGIC PARTNERS
February 27, 2002
NEW YORK -- Wal-Mart and other large U.S. retailers are seeking $8.1 billion in damages from Visa and MasterCard for alleged debit card antitrust violations, according to The Wall Street Journal.
In a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, the retailers accused Visa USA Inc. and MasterCard International of using monopoly power in credit cards to dominate debit cards, forcing them to pay high transaction fees and increase costs to consumers.
Wal-Mart has been joined in the lawsuit by Sears, Roebuck & Co., Safeway Stores Inc., Limited Inc. and others.
The damage estimate represents alleged overcharges by Visa and MasterCard since 1992. If the retailers win, the damage award would triple under antitrust law to $24.3 billion.
The suit accuses card issuers of linking new debit cards to credit cards and forcing merchants to accept them in order to continue accepting credit cards. The retailers allege that credit card companies then charge them processing fees up to five times higher than those charged for traditional bank debit cards.
Visa and MasterCard deny the allegations.
U.S. District Judge John Gleeson recently has made several rulings that have accelerated the 3-year-old suit, and has set a Nov. 27 trial date.
Gleeson also approved a Justice Department request to review evidence with Wal-Mart's lawyers. The government last year opened its own probe of the debit card business and has already sued Visa and MasterCard for alleged antitrust violations in the credit-card industry.
