The U.S. Justice Department yesterday threw its weight behind a proposed rule change that would require banks and other debit card issuers to provide multiple network options to merchants to route online purchases, Reuters reported. The move, made in a comment letter filed to the Federal Reserve by the DOJ's Antitrust Division, underlines the Biden's administration’s renewed efforts to bolster the government's antitrust efforts. "We commend the Board for its efforts to promote competition in this important part of the debit card industry," said Richard Powers, acting assistant attorney general for the antitrust division. "There is limited competition to process online and other card-not-present debit transactions — which in 2019 accounted for over $1 trillion in transaction value." In July, President Joe Biden signed an executive order directing government agencies to crack down on anticompetitive behavior across a range of industries, including banking.
