Japanese branch of credit card giant Visa suspected of unfair practices

TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japan’s antitrust watchdog has launched an investigation into the Japanese unit of Visa, the global credit card giant, over alleged fraudulent transactions, sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

The Visa unit is suspected of charging higher fees to credit card companies that did not use its network to check credit information, forcing them to stop using rival networks or switch to its networks, the sources said.

The Japan Fair Trade Commission conducted an inspection at Visa Worldwide Japan’s Tokyo office because the alleged practice would violate the country’s antitrust law.