Askume, Sept 23 – The US Justice Department plans to investigate the world’s largest payment network operator (PAN) , according to a Bloomberg report on Monday.
The anti-competition authority will file a suit against Visa in federal court on Tuesday, alleging various anti-competitive practices, the report said, citing unnamed sources.
The Justice Department is reportedly preparing to accuse Visa of taking steps to prevent competitors from challenging its dominance in the debit card market.
Visa and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to Askume requests for comment.
In 2023, the Justice Department’s Anticompetition Division issued an investigative request to Visa , requesting documents and information about its debit card practices and competition with other U.S. payment networks.
The investigation was launched in 2021 to examine whether Visa engaged in anti-competitive practices in the debit card market. At the time, the payment processor said it believed its debit practices complied with applicable law.
The move comes after Discover Financial Services (DFS.N) settled a lawsuit in Texas earlier this year by Pulse Networks , which accused Visa of hindering competition in the billion-dollar market for debit card network services.
Visa rival Mastercard MA.N has previously faced similar antitrust scrutiny over its U.S. debit card programme and competition with other payment networks .
