The Justice Department's probe of Visa highlights whether merchants are properly equipped to adapt to the cost of debit spending as more commerce goes digital.
Visa and Mastercard are facing fresh opposition from U.S. retailers in a long-running legal fight over the fees merchants pay each time consumers swipe their credit or debit card at checkout.
The Justice Department has already successfully intervened to break up Visa's deal to buy Plaid. Merchants welcome reports that it is looking at Visa's routing practices.
The card network is testing two artificial intelligence-powered programs that it says give banks some of the benefits of faster payments without requiring the immediate movement of funds.
The company wants to join in on the rush to develop stablecoins and central bank digital currencies, in part to show that it can still be a player in cutting-edge technologies after its merger deal with Plaid fell through.
Most consumers expect to be offered a variety of digital payment options in stores in a post-COVID-19 world, and small and midsize business believe that change will be permanent, a Visa study finds.
After calling off its bid to buy the data aggregator Plaid, the card network is shifting its focus back to its role as an enabler of digital payments and related services.
