BAC Bank of America Corporation

By Brent Kendall 

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider an appeal by Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc. and several leading banks that are challenging lawsuits alleging they conspired to set anticompetitive ATM fees.

The case was one of eight new matters the court added to the docket for its next term, a move that will help give the court's upcoming calendar more heft. The court has been operating with eight members since the February death of Justice Antonin Scalia, leading to a dynamic where it has been slow to take new cases and shied away from potential blockbusters.

Other cases added to the docket for the next term, which begins in October, examine issues including mortgage loans, citizenship and international law.

The ATM case comes from litigation where consumers and independent ATM operators, in a 2011 lawsuit, targeted ATM access fee rules that prevent operators from charging lower fees for banking transactions processed on networks that cost less than Visa and MasterCard.

The plaintiffs allege banks including Bank of America Corp., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. agreed to the ATM restraints when Visa and MasterCard were owned as joint ventures by the banks. The bank card associations went public in 2008 and 2006, but the plaintiffs say the substance of the agreed-upon ATM rules remains in place.

A Washington, D.C., appeals court revived the lawsuits last year after a trial judge previously ruled the allegations weren't strong enough to proceed. The Supreme Court will review that ruling.

Write to Brent Kendall at brent.kendall@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 28, 2016 10:28 ET (14:28 GMT)

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