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antitrust
Bulletins

The DOJ wants to block Visa's Plaid acquisition

The DOJ wants to block Visa's Plaid acquisition

A new lawsuit could halt Visa's $5.3 billion acquisition of Plaid.

Photo: Stephen Phillips/Unsplash

The Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit on Thursday, alleging that Visa's proposed acquisition of Plaid would limit competition.

In a statement, the DOJ said, "Visa seeks to buy Plaid — as its CEO said — as an 'insurance policy' to neutralize a 'threat to our important US debit business.'" The argument seems to be that Plaid, which helps connect financial companies to each other, would help Visa maintain a monopoly in online debit transactions.

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The suit could halt the $5.3 billion acquisition, which was set to be one of the biggest fintech deals yet. In a statement, Visa said the the DOJ's attempt is "legally flawed and contradicted by the facts."

 Shakeel Hashim

Shakeel Hashim ( @shakeelhashim) is a newsletter producer at Protocol, based in London. He was previously an analyst at Finimize covering business and economics, and a digital journalist at News UK. His writing has appeared in The Economist and its book, Uncommon Knowledge.

visa plaid fintech antitrust
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