Australia court fines Visa arm 8.26 million pounds, cites anti-competitive conduct
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's federal court has ordered a subsidiary of credit and debit card issuer Visa Inc to pay a fine of A$18 million (8.26 million pounds) for blocking a rival currency conversion service on its payment terminals.
The proceedings were brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The agency said in a statement that the domestic arm of Visa Worldwide infringed competition blocking a rival currency conversion service on its payment network between May and October 2010.
The court also ordered that Visa pay the ACCC A$2 million in legal costs.
Visa did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment outside normal working hours.
(Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
