Visa, Plaid Scrap $5.3 Billion Deal Amid U.S. Antitrust Suit (2)

Visa Inc., facing a prolonged antitrust fight with the U.S. Justice Department, walked away from a proposed $5.3 billion acquisition of Plaid Inc. aimed at expanding the card network’s services.

The department sued to block the deal in November, accusing Visa of trying to buy the financial-technology firm to eliminate an emerging threat to its online debit business. Visa has said the government failed to provide “a shred of detail” about how Plaid’s products would ultimately compete with the payments behemoth.

“It really became quite clear in recent weeks that the Department of Justice is not inclined to work ...