Australia levels ‘abuse of power’ claim at Visa

Visa, the world’s largest electronic payment network, is being sued by the Australian competition watchdog over alleged abuses of its power.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission claims it “misused its  market power” to  prevent the expansion of dynamic currency conversion (DCC) services.

The Commission says Visa has blocked DCC services at Australian ATMs since 2007 and engaged in exclusive deals by providing access to its payment network to banks and retailers on the condition they would only use Visa’s currency conversion system. DCC services allow international cardholders to see the amount their card will be charged, expressed in their home currency. The Commission claims Visa earned less when cardholders selected DCC.

A Visa spokesman said: “We strongly reject allegations our rules on DCC services infringe competition laws.”