Visa, Morgan Stanley Settle Card Dispute; EU Continues Probe

by Patrick Lunsford, CollectionIndustry.com

Executives from both companies said Monday that Visa Europe and Morgan Stanley had settled a dispute that arose after Visa denied Morgan Stanley access to its credit card network, according to the Financial Times.

Visa had apparently denied Morgan Stanley access to the card network because the investment bank runs the Discover card in the United States to compete with Visa. This prompted a formal complaint to the European Commission ? the agency that oversees competition in the European Union — from Morgan Stanley, accusing Visa of ?abusing a dominant market position.? The Commission then began a probe of Visa?s practices in the EU.

Earlier reports speculated that the settlement would result in the Commission dropping its probe after Morgan Stanley?s complaint was withdrawn per the settlement. But later in the morning, the Commission said that the probe would not necessarily be ending.

“Essentially, it is not because a complaint has been withdrawn that necessarily ends the Commission’s case,” Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd told Reuters.