A US judge has dismissed a lawsuit that accused Apple, Visa, and Mastercard of conspiring to stifle competition in the point-of-sale payment card services market, as reported by Reuters.
In December 2023, the beverage company Mirage Wine & Spirits filed an antitrust suit claiming that Apple made agreements with Visa and Mastercard to avoid using the iPhone to create an independent POS network. In return, it is alleged that both companies agreed to pay Apple a portion of the transaction fees for Apple Pay transactions processed through their networks.
The suit portrayed this arrangement as a “very large and ongoing cash bribe,” arguing that it eliminated any incentive for Apple to establish its own payment network.
This week, US District Judge David Dugan in Illinois stated that the merchants involved in the lawsuit only presented “a slew of circumstantial allegations,” according to Reuters. Apple contended that the complaint did not demonstrate any intention to enter the payments network market, and the judge noted that the plaintiffs’ claims failed to consider the substantial challenges, costs, and risks associated with such an initiative.
Nevertheless, Judge Dugan has permitted the plaintiffs to amend and refile their lawsuit, as noted by Reuters.