A federal judge rejected Visa Inc.’s bid to short-circuit a Justice Department antitrust lawsuit, saying the payment giant’s arguments to dismiss the case were “premature.”
US District Judge John Koeltl in New York ruled Tuesday that the government can move ahead with its claim that Visa illegally broke federal law by trying to freeze out competitors to expand and protect its debit card network — the biggest in the US.
The DOJ alleged in a complaint filed in September that Visa, which handles more than 60% of the more than $4 trillion in US debit transactions each year, entered ...
