The Justice Department sued financial services giant Visa for allegedly violating antitrust laws in its debit card business, which accounts for an estimated 60% of all debit transactions in the country.
A Visa debit card lies next to a reader.
“Visa has unlawfully amassed the power to extract fees that far exceed what it could charge in a competitive market,” according to Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Garland added the fees Visa charges merchants “affects not just the price of one thing – but the price of nearly everything.”
Visa stock was down almost 5% in Tuesday trading, losing about $25 billion in market capitalization.
The company did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment, but shared in 2021 it faced a regulatory probe over its debit card services.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated…