Press Releases

"Visa is pleased that the court resolved several disputes in this case at this stage.  Among other things, the court:

• Dismissed Discover's claims of debit monopolization against Visa; and
• Rejected Discover's allegations of an inter-association antitrust conspiracy between Visa and MasterCard.

"As a consequence of these summary judgment rulings, Discover cannot challenge the legality of the agreements Visa has signed with its debit issuance partners.  As such, it is unlikely the Discover litigation will have a significant impact on Visa's ongoing business operations. 

"In addition, the court granted collateral estoppel on a limited number of issues that were determined in an earlier, related lawsuit.  This ruling, however, does not establish all the elements of Discover's claims.  Discover must still prove the remaining elements of its case and any damages at the upcoming jury trial.

"Visa believes it will be clear to a jury that it is Discover's own business model and decisions - not the actions of competitors - that have limited its options in the marketplace.  Discover has been free to engage in bank issuing partnerships since 2004, but has yet to demonstrate that it can do so in a meaningful way.

"Although we expect Discover will be unable to prove the level of damages that it seeks in this case, Visa remains committed to resolving legal challenges in a manner that allows us to remain focused on our business activities. To that end, as part of the Visa Inc. restructuring process, the company developed a retrospective responsibility plan that addresses potential liability in certain U.S. litigation ("covered litigation"), including the Discover case. Additional information regarding the company's retrospective responsibility plan is available in the company's Final Prospectus, dated March 18, 2008, at www.sec.gov."

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