Apple Wins Dismissal in Payments Conspiracy Lawsuit
Apple has successfully secured the dismissal of a federal lawsuit accusing it of conspiring with Visa and Mastercard to suppress competition in the payments network industry and inflate merchant transaction fees (via Reuters).
[…]
The plaintiffs claimed that Visa and Mastercard made ongoing payments to Apple, described as “a very large and ongoing cash bribe,” to ensure Apple would not build its own rival payment network.
[…]
The court concluded that the plaintiffs had failed to provide sufficient factual allegations to support their claims, saying that they were largely circumstantial and speculative. The judge noted that Apple’s existing agreements with Visa and Mastercard included language that explicitly preserved Apple’s right to compete with them.
I’ve thought all along that the 0.15% is a really sweet deal for Apple. As far as I’m aware, Google Wallet gets 0%. Of course they wouldn’t put the no-compete stuff in writing, just as the Safari agreement with Google doesn’t specifically prohibit Apple developing its own search engine. In both cases, it probably doesn’t make sense for Apple to do it, and they’re getting paid—one oligopoly to another—for the status quo, so why bother?
Previously:
- DOJ’s iPhone Monopoly Case Moves Forward
- Brazil Recommends Sanctions for Apple Over App Store and NFC Rules
- iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5
- PayPal Contactless iPhone Payments
- Apple to Defend Google Revenue Sharing Agreement
- Apple Commits to Opening NFC in EU
- Digital Wallets and the “Only Apple Pay Does This” Mythology
