States Press AmEx Case -- WSJ
June 05 2017 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By AnnaMaria Andriotis
Attorneys general from 11 states filed a petition Friday
afternoon asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review their case
against American Express Co., which centers on whether the card
company can ban merchants from encouraging consumers to use cards
that run on competing networks, like Visa and Mastercard.
Also Friday, the Justice Department said it won't ask the
Supreme Court to review its antitrust case against AmEx. "We
believe the DOJ's decision not to proceed sends a strong signal
that this seven-year litigation should come to an end," an AmEx
spokesman said in a statement.
Ohio is the lead state in the 48-page states' petition and is
joined by Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan,
Montana, Rhode Island, Utah and Vermont
AmEx card policy says merchants that choose to accept AmEx cards
can't steer consumers into using cards on other networks.
The states along with the U.S. Justice Department were
plaintiffs in this case against AmEx when a federal appeals court
ruled in favor of AmEx last September. The appeals court reversed a
lower-court ruling that said AmEx violated antitrust rules because
it didn't allow stores that accept its cards to encourage shoppers
to use cheaper cards. The costs at issue are the fees merchants pay
the card company when people use its cards to shop.
AmEx has said in financial filings that losing this case could
have a material adverse effect on its business.
The AmEx statement said the company "will continue to vigorously
defend" the appeals court ruling, adding that the "decision
protects a consumer's right to choose how they pay, prevents our
card members from being discriminated against and promotes
competition in the payments industry."
Write to AnnaMaria Andriotis at annamaria.andriotis@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 05, 2017 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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