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The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an antitrust investigation into Visa Inc. policies that forbid merchants to surcharge customers for paying with cards or to steer customers to other forms of payment, the San Francisco-based company disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Friday. Visa said it was cooperating with the department, reports American Banker, a CardLine sister publication. New York-based American Express Co., Purchase, N.Y.-based MasterCard Inc. and Riverwoods, Ill.-based Discover Financial Services have said in the last month that they were cooperating with similar investigations. Rules against steering prompted three drugstore companies to sue AmEx in June, alleging provisions in their agreements with the company violate antitrust laws by restraining them from steering customers to other payment cards, which often carry a lower merchant discount rate. The Visa filing also disclosed that Joseph W. Saunders, its chairman and CEO, made $10 million last year, including a $950,000 base salary, a $1.9 million bonus, $336,684 in stock, and $3.27 million in options. Visa raised $19 billion through an initial public offering this year.
