Litigation and regulatory actions
In 2011, MasterCard and Visa were sued in a class action by ATM operators claiming the credit card networks' rules effectively fix ATM access fees. The suit claimed that this is a restraint on trade in violation of US federal law. The lawsuit was filed by the National ATM Council and independent operators of automated teller machines. More specifically, it is alleged that MasterCard's and Visa's network rules prohibit ATM operators from offering lower prices for transactions over PIN-debit networks that are not affiliated with Visa or MasterCard. The suit says that this price-fixing artificially raises the price that consumers pay using ATMs, limits the revenue that ATM-operators earn, and violates the Sherman Act's prohibition against unreasonable restraints of trade.
Johnathan Rubin, an attorney for the plaintiffs said, "Visa and MasterCard are the ringleaders, organizers, and enforcers of a conspiracy among U.S. banks to fix the price of ATM access fees in order to keep the competition at bay."
In 2017, a US district court denied the ATM operators' request to stop Visa from enforcing the ATM fees.
In 1996, a class of U.S. merchants, including Walmart, brought an antitrust lawsuit against Visa and MasterCard over their "Honor All Cards" policy, which forced merchants who accepted Visa and MasterCard branded credit cards to also accept their respective debit cards (such as the "Visa Check Card"). Over 4 million class members were represented by the plaintiffs. According to a website associated with the suit, Visa and MasterCard settled the plaintiffs' claims in 2003 for a total of $3.05 billion. Visa's share of this settlement is reported to have been the larger.
In 1998, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Visa over rules prohibiting its issuing banks from doing business with American Express and Discover. The Department of Justice won its case at trial in 2001 and the verdict was upheld on appeal. American Express and Discover filed suit as well.
In October 2010, Visa and MasterCard reached a settlement with the Department of Justice in another antitrust case. The companies agreed to allow merchants displaying their logos to decline certain types of cards (because interchange fees differ), or to offer consumers discounts for using cheaper cards.
On November 27, 2012, a federal judge entered an order granting preliminary approval to a proposed settlement to a class-action lawsuit filed in 2005 by merchants and trade associations against Mastercard and Visa. The suit was filed due to alleged price-fixing practices employed by Mastercard and Visa. About one-quarter of the named class plaintiffs have decided to opt "out of the settlement". Opponents object to provisions that would bar future lawsuits and even prevent merchants from opting out of significant portions of the proposed settlement.
Plaintiffs allege that Visa and Mastercard fixed interchange fees, also known as swipe fees, that are charged to merchants for the privilege of accepting payment cards. In their complaint, the plaintiffs also alleged that the defendants unfairly interfere with merchants from encouraging customers to use less expensive forms of payment such as lower-cost cards, cash, and checks.
A settlement of US$6.24 billion was scheduled for the court to approve or deny, on November 7, 2019.
Separately, in October 2025, merchants agreed to a $231.7 million settlement beforea U.S. District Judge, as B & R Supermarket, Inc., et al v. Visa, Inc. et al, for costs imposed in frauds related to counterfeit, lost, or stolen cards, with Visa agreeing to pay $119.7 million of the total settlement.
In June 2016, the Wall Street Journal reported that Walmart threatened to stop accepting Visa cards in Canada. Visa objected saying that consumers should not be dragged into a dispute between the companies. In January 2017, Walmart Canada and Visa reached a deal to allow the continued acceptance of Visa.
In March 2019, U.S. retailer Kroger announced that its 250-strong Smith's chain would stop accepting Visa credit cards as of April 3, 2019, due to the cards' high swipe fees. Kroger's California-based Foods Co stores stopped accepting Visa cards in August 2018. Mike Schlotman, Kroger's executive vice president/chief financial officer, said Visa had been "misusing its position and charging retailers excessive fees for a long time." In response, Visa issued a statement saying it was "unfair and disappointing that Kroger is putting shoppers in the middle of a business dispute." As of October 31, 2019, Kroger has settled its dispute with Visa and is now accepting the payment method.
In January 2020 Visa announced it would acquire Plaid for $5.3 billion. In November 2020, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) sued to block Visa's acquisition of fintech startup Plaid, claiming that the merger would violate antitrust laws. The DOJ argues that the merger would eliminate Plaid's potential ability to compete in the online debit market, thereby creating a monopoly for Visa. Visa CEO at the time Alfred Kelly described the acquisition bid as an "insurance policy" to neutralize a "threat to our important US debit business." In January 2021, Visa along with Plaid both mutually agreed to abandon its proposed acquisition.
In March 2021, the United States Justice Department announced its investigation with Visa to discover if the company is engaging in anticompetitive practices in the debit card market. The main question at hand is whether or not Visa is limiting merchants' ability to route debit card transactions over card networks that are often less expensive, focusing more so on online debit card transactions. The probe highlights the role of network fees, which are invisible to consumers and place pressure on merchants, who mitigate the fees by raising prices of goods for customers. The probe was confirmed through a regulatory filing on March 19, 2021, stating it will be cooperating with the Justice Department. Visa's shares fell more than 6% following the announcement. On September 24, 2024, the Justice Department sued Visa, alleging that Visa used illegal tactics to maintain a monopoly in debit-card payments.
In 2015, the Australian Federal Court ordered Visa to pay a pecuniary penalty of $20 million (including legal fees) for engaging in anti-competitive conduct against dynamic currency conversion operators, in proceedings brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
In 2002, the European Commission exempted Visa's multilateral interchange fees from Article 81 of the EC Treaty that prohibits anti-competitive arrangements. However, this exemption expired on December 31, 2007. In the United Kingdom, Mastercard has reduced its interchange fees while it is under investigation by the Office of Fair Trading.
In January 2007, the European Commission issued the results of a two-year inquiry into the retail banking sector. The report focuses on payment cards and interchange fees. Upon publishing the report, Commissioner Neelie Kroes said the "present level of interchange fees in many of the schemes we have examined does not seem justified." The report called for further study of the issue.
On March 26, 2008, the European Commission opened an investigation into Visa's multilateral interchange fees for cross-border transactions within the EEA as well as into the "Honor All Cards" rule (under which merchants are required to accept all valid Visa-branded cards).
The antitrust authorities of EU member states (other than the United Kingdom) also investigated Mastercard's and Visa's interchange fees. For example, on January 4, 2007, the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection fined twenty banks a total of PLN 164 million (about $56 million) for jointly setting Mastercard's and Visa's interchange fees.
In December 2010, Visa reached a settlement with the European Union in yet another antitrust case, promising to reduce debit card payments to 0.2 percent of a purchase. A senior official from the European Central Bank called for a break-up of the Visa/Mastercard duopoly by creation of a new European debit card for use in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). After Visa's blocking of payments to WikiLeaks, members of the European Parliament expressed concern that payments from European citizens to a European corporation could apparently be blocked by the US, and called for a further reduction in the dominance of Visa and Mastercard in the European payment system.
Visa's interchange fee of 1.5–1.6% in Poland started discussion about the need for increased government regulation surrounding the topic. The high fees encouraged merchants to create new payment systems, which avoid using Visa as a middleman. For example, mobile applications were created by major banks, proprietary payment systems were created by franchises, and public transport authorities created ticketing systems.
In May 2024, the UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) proposed new rules requiring Visa and Mastercard to increase transparency regarding the fees they charge merchants. The proposed regulations mandate that the two companies, regularly disclose detailed financial information to the PSR. The regulations also require Visa and Mastercard to consult with merchants and retailers before implementing any fee changes.
The proposal followed a PSR review revealing that Visa and Mastercard had raised their scheme and processing fees by more than 30% in real terms over the previous five years. Despite these increases, the PSR found limited evidence that service quality had improved proportionately.
In November 2024, the European Commission launched a further investigation into whether the scheme fees imposed by Visa and Mastercard impact negatively on retailers. Some retailers had in recent years complained about the fees, citing a lack of transparency. The Commission took its investigation further in June 2025, asking for a retailer view and for comments from the card operators about whether "a standardized summary of fees" would help to promote transparency.
