The Department of Justice files an antitrust lawsuit to block Visa's planned acquisition of fintech start-up Plaid, alleging it would limit competition in the industry.
"Visa rarely faces any significant threats to its online debit monopoly. Plaid is such a threat," the Justice Department says.'s planned acquisition of fintech start-up Plaid on grounds that it would limit competition in the payments industry. The DOJ cited Visa CEO Al Kelly's description of the deal as an "insurance policy" to neutralize a "threat to our important US debit business." Plaid is a San Francisco-based financial technology firm that uses APIs toto popular finance apps such as Venmo and Robinhood. It's linked to more than 11,000 U.S. banks and according to the complaint, has been developing a product that could emerge as substitute for Visa's debit services.
"This action reflects a lack of understanding of Plaid's business and the highly competitive payments landscape in which Visa operates," Visa said in a statement.
That's a first.
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