| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Visa settles debit card dispute
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Visa USA has reached an agreement with merchants to resolve a long-running suit over its debit cards, the company's vice president, Daniel Tarman, said late Wednesday. Visa agreed to modify its "Honor All Cards" policy, which held that consumers, not merchants, should be able to decide which Visa card to use at the cash register. Retailers including Wal-Mart and Sears had sued Visa, complaining that together with MasterCard International, the companies misused their dominance to demand excessive fees and restrict competition in the debit card market. MasterCard settled on Monday. According to Reuters, Visa and MasterCard will pay a combined $3 billion to Wal-Mart and other retailers to settle the lawsuit. Visa USA will pay $2 billion and MasterCard International $1 billion in separate settlements. Visa had complained that the merchants were limiting customers' use of its cards, including popular debit cards from banks, which carry the Visa logo. Under the new agreement, Tarman said, merchants will be able to decide for themselves whether to accept Visa debit cards, beginning in January. "We are confident merchants will continue to accept the popular debit card providing customers with the widest array of payment options," Tarman said. "This agreement allows Visa to do all it can to preserve consumer choice at the checkout counter, while minimizing confusion." The retailers had sought damages in the billions of dollars, and had asked for changes in fee arrangements. Together, Visa and MasterCard transactions make up more than 75 percent of the market for credit card transactions measured by charge volume in terms of dollars. "We believe this settlement is a reasonable and responsible resolution that serves the interests of consumers, merchants and our member financial institutions," Tarman said.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
