Apple, Mastercard, Visa Win Dismissal in US Antitrust Lawsuit Over Payments

A lawsuit accusing Apple, Mastercard, and Visa of monopolistic practices in the mobile payments market—allegedly hindering fair competition—was recently dismissed by a U.S. court. The judge ruled that the plaintiff’s claims, including allegations of “bribery to maintain a monopoly,” lacked sufficient supporting evidence, bringing a temporary halt to the legal dispute.

The suit, filed in 2023 by Mirage Wine & Spirits, a beverage retailer based in Illinois, sought to represent all U.S. brick-and-mortar merchants offering Apple Pay as a payment method. The complaint alleged that Visa and Mastercard had paid substantial fees to Apple in what amounted to a form of bribery, enabling the tech giant to preserve its market dominance through credit card-based transactions.

According to the filing, Apple had reached an agreement with Visa and Mastercard, which allegedly included Apple’s abandonment of plans to develop its own retail payment network. This decision effectively eliminated competition with Visa’s and Mastercard’s existing systems. Additionally, Apple reportedly restricted third-party access to the NFC (Near Field Communication) chip behind Apple Pay, thereby preventing rival mobile wallet providers from enabling contactless payments on iPhones.

The complaint noted that Apple collects approximately 0.15% per credit card transaction and a flat \$0.005 per debit transaction—financial incentives that purportedly underpinned its continued deep integration with Mastercard and Visa.

However, the court found no definitive evidence that Apple had ever planned to launch its own payment network or that Mastercard and Visa had, in fact, bribed the company.

In reality, Mastercard, Visa, and American Express have been closely involved in the design and promotion of the Apple Pay ecosystem since its debut in 2014. Many of Apple’s financial services—such as the Apple Card, developed in partnership with Mastercard, and Apple Cash, launched with Visa—are firmly rooted in the existing financial infrastructure.

Though the case was dismissed, it underscored persistent concerns over Apple’s restrictive approach to NFC access. For years, developers have urged the company to open the Tap to Pay feature to third-party services, enabling them to process contactless transactions without relying on Apple Pay. While Apple has gradually expanded NFC functionality, comprehensive access remains limited.

It wasn’t until 2024, under regulatory pressure from the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), that Apple began allowing third-party payment apps in Europe to access NFC directly. More recently, this access has been extended to markets including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. Nevertheless, in most regions, Apple Pay continues to operate within a tightly integrated and exclusive framework alongside Mastercard and Visa—a structure unlikely to change in the near term.

Although the current lawsuit has been dismissed, Mirage Wine & Spirits retains the option to refile should it later produce sufficient evidence. This reflects the ongoing uncertainties surrounding competition within the digital payments space.

Meanwhile, as services such as Samsung Pay and Google Pay expand, and as contactless payments and Open Banking gain momentum globally, regulatory scrutiny over the entanglement between Apple, Mastercard, and Visa remains intense.

Whether Apple will further liberalize NFC access in response to competitive pressures—or merely implement strategic concessions to appease regulatory mandates—remains a matter of close observation.

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