Discover had filed a lawsuit against MasterCard and Visa in 2004, seeking roughly $6 billion in damages, as it contended the card networks had harmed its business by preventing their member banks from issuing credit cards for Discover’s network.
U.S. courts have ruled that efforts by Visa and MasterCard, the world’s two biggest credit card companies, to restrict banks from working with rivals was anti-competitive and broke antitrust law.
A similar lawsuit by American Express Co against Visa and MasterCard had already agreed to settle for about $3.9 billion.
October 14, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Any kind of monopoly will dwarf competition and efficiency; and increase cost.
October 14, 2008 at 1:52 pm
The subprime mortgage mess may be grabbing the headlines, but the rapid growth of personal debt from mortgages, credit cards and other loans is part of a far larger problem facing millions of Americans.