A U.S. federal judge has dismissed a high-profile antitrust lawsuit accusing Apple, Visa, and Mastercard of conspiring to stifle competition in the point-of-sale (POS) payment card market. The case, brought by Illinois-based Mirage Wine & Spirits in December 2023, alleged that Apple made secret deals with Visa and Mastercard to avoid launching its own competing POS network.
According to the complaint, Apple allegedly agreed not to build a rival payments network using iPhones. In exchange, Visa and Mastercard reportedly paid Apple a share of the transaction fees from Apple Pay payments processed through their networks. The lawsuit described this as a “very large and ongoing cash bribe,” which allegedly removed Apple’s incentive to innovate independently in the payments space.
However, U.S. District Judge David Dugan dismissed the case this week, stating that the plaintiffs provided only “a slew of circumstantial allegations.” He agreed with Apple’s position that the suit failed to demonstrate the company had ever intended to enter the POS network market.
Judge Dugan noted that the plaintiffs ignored the complexities involved in building a payments network from scratch—such as the significant costs, risks, and technical challenges. The decision emphasized the lack of concrete evidence suggesting a genuine plan or capability by Apple to disrupt the existing card network duopoly.
Despite the dismissal, the judge did grant the plaintiffs permission to amend and refile their complaint, leaving the door open for a potential revival of the case if more substantial evidence can be presented.
This case highlights growing scrutiny over Apple’s increasingly dominant role in digital payments and its relationships with major card networks. Apple Pay continues to expand its footprint globally, but critics argue that the tech giant’s partnerships could be limiting market innovation.