DOJ Continues to Probe Visa Over Debit Cards, Other Payment Methods

Visa is reportedly under continued scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Justice.

A new civil investigative demand, similar to a subpoena, was filed May 2, bringing to light a deepening inquiry into the payment processor’s practices, Bloomberg reported Wednesday (July 26).

Visa said in a regulatory filing made Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the DOJ sought more information about debit cards and other payment methods, according to the report.

“On January 4, 2023, and May 2, 2023, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (Division) issued further civil investigative demands seeking additional documents and information focusing on U.S. debit and competition with other payment methods and networks,” Visa said in the Form 10-Q. “Visa is cooperating with the Division in connection with the investigation.”

Visa had previously revealed that it had received an information request in January, according to the Bloomberg report. Its rival, Mastercard, disclosed in April that it, too, has been contacted by the DOJ’s antitrust lawyers.

The DOJ has not divulged details regarding its probe, the report said.

The department launched an inquiry in 2021 over Visa’s practices and dominance in certain payment areas, per the report. It has also looked into Visa’s “steering” arrangements with PayPal to stop consumers from paying with their checking accounts instead of debit and credit cards when using PayPal’s digital wallet.

In 2010, Visa settled an antitrust suit filed by the DOJ, according to the report. That suit focused on the payment processor’s rules that barred merchants from steering their customers to lower-cost debit and credit cards.

The DOJ’s antitrust arm began investigating Visa in 2021 for allegedly anticompetitive debit card processes in the debit card industry. That meant collecting data and determining whether Visa prevented retailers from sending debit card transactions through lower-cost card networks.

When Mastercard said in a quarterly report released in April that it had received a civil investigative demand from the DOJ’s Antitrust Division in March, it said the company was cooperating with the investigation. It said the demand was seeking documents and information regarding a potential violation of the Sherman Act and that the investigation is focused on Mastercard’s U.S. debit program and competition with other payment networks and technologies.

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