The Justice Department sued Amex today, saying that the restrictions it places on merchants were anti-competitive. According to the complaint, the rules “impede merchants from promoting or encouraging the use of a competing credit or charge card with lower card acceptance fees.”

Visa and Mastercard, who were part of the discussions leading up to the announcement, decided to settle. Amex said they wouldn’t settle because it doesn’t dominate commerce in such a way that merchants would have to accept its rules. Sure.

MasterCard, Visa Settle Antitrust Case as Amex Fights Lawsuit [Bloomberg]

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