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Supreme Court to consider ATMIA brief in antitrust case

November 3, 2016

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider an amicus brief filed by antitrust attorneys representing the ATM Industry Association.The filing is related to Visa v. Osborn, in which Visa and MasterCard question whether members of a business association can be in violation of antitrust law by agreeing to abide by the rules of the association.

According to an ATMIA press release, the association "believes that the petitioners' brief has improperly expanded their argument to, in effect, seek immunity from Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act."

An amicus curiae (literally, "friend of the court") brief is a legal document filed by nonlitigants with a strong interest in the outcome of a case under review by an appellate court. It presents information relevant to the case or arguments that the court might wish to consider in its decision.

At issue in Visa v. Osborn are ATM access fee rules — which banks agree to abide by and enforce — that prohibit independent ATM operators from discounting fees paid by consumers for ATM access via lower-cost networks that compete with those of Visa and MasterCard.

The ATMIA contends that consumers are harmed by being forced to pay artificially high fees that cannot be priced as a competitive market would otherwise allow.

ATMIA has requested that the court reject the petitioners' attempt "to immunize themselves from scrutiny under Section 1 of the Sherman Act," the release said.

"The decision on this case could have a significant impact on the ATM industry for many years to come," ATMIA USA Executive Director David Tentes said in the release. "ATMIA is uniquely qualified to address the competitive issues at stake here. And there is no question that a finding in favor of the card brands would further [their] already overarching dominance of the U.S. market."

ATMIA members can access the brief directly from the ATMIA market intelligence library. Nonmembers may request a complete copy of the brief.

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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.

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