MasterCard, Visa Settle Antitrust Case as American Express Fights Lawsuit

[Elmore Furth]

Source: Bloomberg

Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. reached a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department to resolve a two- year probe over restrictions on merchants, while American Express Co. vowed to fight a government antitrust lawsuit.

“We want to put money in consumers’ pockets,” said Attorney General Eric Holder at a press conference today. “By eliminating credit-card companies’ anticompetitive rules, we will accomplish that.”

The settlements, which are subject to a federal judge’s approval, were filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, after the Justice Department sued the three credit-card networks.

Restraints on retailers by the payment networks “impose a competitive straightjacket on merchants, restricting decisions by them to offer discounts, benefits and choices to customers that many merchants would otherwise be free to offer,” the Justice Department said in the lawsuit.


Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-04/mastercard-visa-settle-antitrust-case-as-american-express-fights-lawsuit.html

[Democrats_win]

1. Right on Eric Holder! Treat the usury cards the way they treat us!

They screw us through the fine print and insist on the letter of the law. This is how the crooked credit card industry should be treated. Better yet: bring out the guillotines and send them all to hell.