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Australian Regulator Sues Mastercard For Anti-Competitive Practices

By  |  May 30, 2022

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Monday started legal proceedings in the Federal Court against Mastercard for allegedly stifling competition in the supply of debit card acceptance services.

The consumer watchdog said in a statement that it has instituted proceedings against Mastercard Asia/Pacific and Mastercard Asia/Pacific.

Mastercard’s alleged anti-competitive conduct commenced in late 2017 in the context of the Reserve Bank of Australia‘s “least cost routing” initiative, aimed to increase competition in the supply of debit card acceptance services and reduce payment costs for businesses by allowing them to choose the lowest cost network to process their transactions.

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