Discover's Pulse Network Settles Antitrust Suit Against Visa

Group 1 - Discover's Pulse Network has settled a 10-year-old antitrust suit against Visa, which accused Visa of preventing competition in the debit card network services market and raising fees for merchants [1] - The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled, although the terms of the settlement were not disclosed [1] - Pulse claimed that Visa's fixed acquirer network fee (FANF) violated federal antitrust law by imposing a fixed monthly fee on merchants, making it difficult for them to refuse payment acceptance from Visa [1] Group 2 - Visa argued that Pulse's issues stemmed from increased competition due to cheaper per-transaction fees rather than any anti-competitive pricing structure [2] - The settlement agreement comes shortly after a federal judge indicated she may reject a $30 billion settlement between Visa, Mastercard, and retailers, which still requires court approval [2] - Analyst comments suggest that the judge is unlikely to accept the settlement due to concerns over provisions related to digital wallet acceptance rules and state bans on surcharges [3] Group 3 - The National Retail Federation has requested a federal judge to quash the proposed settlement between Visa and Mastercard, arguing it was reached without input from major retailers and does not address anti-competitive practices [3]