The US Justice Department is set to settle an antitrust probe into card processing fees with Visa and MasterCard, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Citing people familiar with negotiations, the WSJ says a settlement could be announced this week on steering. Currently Visa and MasterCard can prevent merchants from steering customers to use cards with lower processing fees.
An agreement with the Justice Department would see merchants given more leeway to offer incentives to customers for using cards that are cheaper. Normally cards that offer rewards, such as air miles, cost more to process.
American Express is also being looked at by the department but is not expected to join Visa and MasterCard in the settlement talks, says the paper.
MasterCard and Visa Are Near an Antitrust Settlement - WSJ
Update: The Department of Justice confirmed the settlement agreement late Monday. The anti-trust agency says it will continue with litigation proceedings against American Express.