MasterCard Seeks to Split from Visa in Lawsuit

You may recall that several major retailers filed a suit against Visa and MasterCard back in 1996, alleging that the two firms had conspired to force them to accept both their debit and credit cards and that they had conspired to suppress rival debit card networks. Now, MasterCard has filed a motion urging that it should not be included with Visa and should have a separate trial. It argues that its position is "tainted" by Visa's efforts to suppress debit-card competition and could unfairly "tarnish" MasterCard's case. In his letter, MasterCard's attorney wrote, "MasterCard seeks severance and a separate trial of the claims against it to avoid the undue and irreversible prejudice that would result from the introduction of evidence of Visa's conduct and statements before the same jury deciding the separate claims against MasterCard." The trial is scheduled to begin on April 28.