US Authorities Reportedly Probe Visa’s Deals with Fintech Firms

The US Justice Department (DOJ) is reportedly launching a probe on Payments Payments One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl Read this Term giant, Visa and its current relationships with large Fintech Fintech Financial Technology (fintech) is defined as ay technology that is geared towards automating and enhancing the delivery and application of financial services. The origin of the term fintechs can be traced back to the 1990s where it was primarily used as a back-end system technology for renowned financial institutions. However, it has since grown outside the business sector with an increased focus upon consumer services.What Purpose Do Fintechs Serve?The main purpose of fintechs would be to suppl Financial Technology (fintech) is defined as ay technology that is geared towards automating and enhancing the delivery and application of financial services. The origin of the term fintechs can be traced back to the 1990s where it was primarily used as a back-end system technology for renowned financial institutions. However, it has since grown outside the business sector with an increased focus upon consumer services.What Purpose Do Fintechs Serve?The main purpose of fintechs would be to suppl Read this Term companies. According to The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, the investigation is part of the Department’s antitrust inquiries of the card company.

Specifically, authorities want to know more about the financial incentives granted by Visa to Square, Stripe and PayPal. “Investigators want to know if those deals kept the payments firms from using other card networks or money-movement technologies, the people said,” the WSJ noted.

However, there is no information on whether the authorities had reached a conclusion or not on the matter or if its inquiries are coming to an end at this stage. Moreover, the WSJ pointed out that the US Justice Department had been investigating a deal arranged by Visa with Square’s Cash App since six years ago.

“Visa offered to lower fees for Square and to send performance payments to the company that would get bigger when Square sent more transactions over Visa,” anonymous sources told the media outlet. So far, the DOJ’s antitrust investigation had just been limited to saying that Visa has been compliant with the applicable laws. “We believe Visa’s U.S. debit practices are in compliance with applicable laws,” the DOJ commented at the time.

Visa Deals with Fintech Firms This Year

In terms of recent deals with fintech firms, Deserve announced today that it had received a strategic investment from Visa to expand its credit-card-as-a-service for financial institutions, fintechs and brands. Visa joins other investors like Mission Holdings, Mastercard, Ally Ventures, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Sallie Mae to bolster Deserve’s offerings.

Furthermore, Visa entered into a definitive agreement in July for the acquisition of Currencycloud, a UK-based business-to-business payments startup. Visa is an existing partner and investor in Currencycloud, which is valued at £700 million, inclusive of cash and retention incentives.