Walmart Sues Visa Over Swipe Fees

Retailer argues Visa conspired with banks to fix swipe fees.

March 28, 2014

FAYETTEVILLE, AR – Walmart filed suit against Visa in U.S. District Court claiming the company conspired with banks to fix interchange (swipe) fees charged to retailers between 2004 and 2012, The City Wire reports.

Walmart rejected last year’s swipe fee settlement saying it failed to disclose the hidden fees or create transparency to encourage competition that would lower fees for retailers and their customers. 

“Walmart and all other merchants were subjected to rules and practices that harmed competition, suppressed fraud preventing technology in the U.S., and inflated interchange fees charged to merchants when customers used their credit and debit cards. As a result, many merchants were forced to pass on some of these artificially high fees to consumers,” said Walmart spokesperson Randy Hargrove.

The suit alleges Visa raised interchange fees by 234% between 1998 and 2006, and that its anticompetitive conduct generated $350 billion in swipe fees for the issuers during the damages period – fees that Walmart and other retailers paid and continue to pay.

Walmart estimates its injuries are in excess of $5 billion.

“We continue to oppose the proposed credit card interchange fee settlement, which would give the defendants a sweeping release that poses considerable risk of abuse and does nothing to change the broken market,” Hargrove said.

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