American Express Loses Antitrust Lawsuit Over Merchant Rules

After nearly five years of legal battles, a federal court has ruled that American Express's merchant agreements violate antitrust laws and has resulted in higher costs for consumers. The lawsuit, filed by the Justice Dept. and attorneys general for more than a dozen states, alleged that so-called "anti-steering" or nondiscrimination provisions of the AmEx merchant agreement prevent merchants in the U.S. from pointing their customers to use other cards — like those on the Visa, MasterCard and Discover networks — that charge lower fees to merchants for each transaction.