Wal-Mart Sues Visa for $5 Billion Over ‘Swipe Fees’

Washington Informer March 28, 2014

0 393 Less than a minute

In this Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013, file photo, April Taylor of Upper Marlboro, Md., left, buys items from groceries to Christmas presents with her son Jarhon Taylor, right, on opening day of a new Wal-Mart on Georgia Avenue in Northwest Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

[CNN]

In a battle of retailing titans, Wal-Mart Stores is suing Visa, accusing the credit card company of conspiring with banks to fix prices on the processing fees retailers are charged.

Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), the world’s largest retailer, says Visa’s price fixing cost it at least $5 billion in damages. And since the case is a federal antitrust case, it is seeking damages three times that amount or $15 billion.

Visa (V, Fortune 500), MasterCard (MA, Fortune 500) and major banks reached a tentative settlement with many retailers in July 2012; the card companies agreed to pay up to $7.25 billion and lower the fees they charge stores. That settlement was approved by a federal judge last December.