The Justice Department is investigating whether Visa Inc. is engaging in anti-competitive practices in the debit card market, according to people familiar with the matter.
The department’s antitrust division has been collecting information and asking whether Visa, the largest card chain in the United States, has limited ability for merchants to route debit card transactions through card networks that are often cheaper, people said. Many of the department’s questions focused on online debit card transactions, but investigators also asked about problems at the store, people said.
The investigation highlights the important role of so-called network charges, which are invisible to consumers, profitable to card operators, but weigh on merchants, who often pass on charges in the form of higher prices to customers.
This occurs at a time when the antitrust authorities of the Justice Department of administrations place an emphasis on scrutinizing digital market activities, including in the financial sector, and on investigating the business practices of dominant companies.
In the new investigation, the department is considering whether Visa’s practices are allowing it to maintain a dominant market share illegally, people said.