Legal Woes Mount For Visa AndMasterCard

CHICAGO - (10/05/05) -- Publix Super Markets said Tuesday itfiled a new anti-trust suit against Visa USA and MasterCardInternational, claiming the credit card giants engage inanti-competitive practices in the setting of the interchange feesthey charge retailers. The suit by Publix, which operates 865grocery stores in the southeast, is the latest in a growing list oflegal challenges challenging the credit card companies' fee-settingpractices. Publix says that 60% of its customers pay using creditor debit cards. The lawsuits against the credit card companies saythat because the card associations are owned by the same banks andcredit unions that issue their cards, they constitute a cartel ofcompetitors, which would make the interchange feesillegal.