The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday
reinstated an antitrust lawsuit brought against Visa Inc. and
MasterCard Inc. by a trade association of ATM operators.
Representatives for the two payment-card networks weren't
immediately available for comment.
Consumers, independent ATM operators and the National ATM
Council filed the lawsuit in 2011. They alleged Visa's and
MasterCard's ATM-fee policies suppressed competition because they
barred ATM operators from offering discounts to customers who
complete transactions over less-costly payment networks.
In 2013, a federal judge in a 39-page ruling, found several
problems with the lawsuits and dismissed them.
"The complaints bristle with indignation, but when one strips
away the conclusory assertions and the inferences proffered without
factual support, there is very little left to consider," wrote
Judge Amy Berman Jackson at the time.
In reversing the dismissal, the D.C. appellate court ruled that
there were grounds for a case because Visa and MasterCard "member
banks used the bank associations to adopt and enforce a
supracompetitive pricing regime for ATM access fees," which then
made the networks more expensive for ATM operators and consumers to
use.
The lawsuit seeks damages against Visa and MasterCard and asks
the court to prevent Visa and MasterCard from continuing to
restrict how operators charge ATM access fees.
Write to Angela Chen at angela.chen@wsj.com
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