Visa, MasterCard Lose Bid to Cancel ‘Swipe Fee’ Case Litigation

Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. lost a motion to stop more than a decade of litigation on “swipe fees” under cases brought by merchants.

Judge Margo Brodie of the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York in a Monday order denied the card companies’ motion for summary judgment, saying the plaintiffs “have provided empirical and direct evidence of supracompetitive profits and prices, as well as some evidence of stifled competition and reduced quality, along with evidence of Mastercard’s market power.”

The multidistrict litigation, which began in 2005, stems from merchants who challenged Visa and MasterCard rules covering ...