The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) on Tuesday sued Visa, the world's largest payments network, for an alleged debit network monopoly.
"We allege that Visa has unlawfully amassed the power to extract fees that far exceed what it could charge in a competitive market," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a release. The lawsuit, filed in New York, asserts Visa's dominance has led to inflated fees for merchants and consumers alike.
In that sense, Garland added, "Visa's unlawful conduct affects not just the price of one thing, but the price of nearly everything." According to the suit, the company processes over 60% of US debit transactions and charged more than $7 billion in fees last year.
After the news broke, Visa was trading 4.58% lower at $275.47.
