Mastercard reports U.S. antitrust investigation into debit card program

(Reuters) – Mastercard Inc. said Thursday that the U.S. Department of Justice is conducting an antitrust investigation into its U.S. debit card program and competition from other payment networks.

The company said in its filing that it received a civil investigative demand, the civil equivalent of a subpoena, from the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. The filing did not specify the government’s concerns beyond saying they had to do with the U.S. overdraft program and competition with competitors.

“Mastercard is cooperating with the Department of Justice in connection with CID,” the company said in the letter.

The Justice Department declined to comment.

In January, Visa Inc. said the Justice Department had subpoenaed documents from it regarding its U.S. debit card practices and competition with other payment networks.

The investigation began in early 2021 after reports that the United States was investigating whether the credit card issuer engaged in anti-competitive practices in the debit card market.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru and Diane Bartz in Washington; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and David Gregorio)