A ruling by a federal judge may pave the way for plaintiffs to pursue an anti-trust case against proponents of the adoption of EMV chip cards for debit and credit card transactions across the US.
An order issued by US District Court judge William Alsup ruled in favour of two small Florida businesses that alleged that four national credit card companies conspired to set the October 1, 2015 deadline requiring retailers to adopt chip card technology for their transactions.
This promulgation paves the way for an antitrust case against Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover Financial Services to advance in federal court for the Northern District of California.
Further, the two retailers—B &R Supermarket and Grove Liquor—are seeking to rally millions of small retailers to start a class action suit against the said companies for requiring them to assume liability for fraudulent card transactions if they have not upgraded to the chip card technology yet.
Retailers allege that the card companies conspired over the setting of the deadline, and that it violates fair trade practices.
“This order concludes that plaintiffs plausibly allege an impermissible conspiracy” by Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover, Alsup said.
“We are disappointed that the court denied our motion,” MasterCard spokesman Seth Eisen, told reporters through email. “As we move into the next phase of the process, we believe we have a strong case that will allow us to put this matter behind us and focus on driving our business and relationships with customers.”
American Express, Visa and Discover refrained from commenting on the ruling.
