Visa, Mastercard, Major Banks Facing New Litigation over 'Anticompetitive' Fees

A new antitrust lawsuit against Visa, Mastercard, and major banks alleges that entrenched interchange and network fee structures continue to impose more than $100 billion annually in costs on merchants, despite prior settlements. For CIOs and technology leaders in retail, payments, and finance, the case signals potential disruption to payment economics, renewed regulatory and litigation pressure, and possible changes to card acceptance, routing, surcharging, and payment strategy that could affect IT roadmaps and vendor negotiations.