The Justice Department on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Visa, alleging that the company maintained an illegal monopoly over the U.S. debit card market. According to the DOJ's complaint, more than 60% of debit card transactions in the U.S. run on Visa's debit network, which allows the company to charge over $7 billion in fees each year for processing those transactions. It also accuses Visa of illegally maintaining its monopoly power by insulating itself from competition.
Visa and rival Mastercard have faced legal scrutiny in recent months. This summer, a federal judge rejected a $30 billion settlement in a lawsuit related to the swipe fees, also known as interchange fees, that the card issuers charge merchants to handle their transactions. The settlement would have lowered and capped swipe fees, resulting in an estimated savings of $6 billion a year for merchants.