By Mike Scarcella

Dec 15 (Reuters) – Apple, Visa and Mastercard have been hit with a new proposed class action that accuses them of conspiring to thwart competition for point-of-sale payment card network services, causing merchants to pay artificially higher fees for credit and debit transactions.

In a complaint filed in East St. Louis, Illinois, federal court on Thursday, beverage retailer Mirage Wine & Spirits said Apple AAPL.O struck unlawful agreements with Visa V.N and Mastercard MA.N to refrain from competing with the two credit card companies.

Visa and Mastercard in exchange paid Apple a portion of transaction fees for purchases made on their networks by consumers using Apple’s Mobile Wallet service, according to the lawsuit.

The complaint said Visa and Mastercard had paid Apple what amounted to a “very large and ongoing cash bribe” of hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Unlike Apple’s iPhones, Google’s Android-based devices allow third-party mobile wallets, the lawsuit said.

Representatives for Apple, Visa and Mastercard did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Lawyers representing Mirage Wine & Spirits also did not immediately comment. The lawsuit, brought on behalf of a proposed class of “at least many thousands” of merchants, seeks triple damages under U.S. antitrust law.

Cupertino, California-based Apple faces an array of legal actions over payments in the United States and Europe.

A U.S. judge in September said Apple must face claims from payment card issuers who sued the company for allegedly coercing iPhone consumers to use its Apple Pay mobile wallet. Venmo and Cash App in a lawsuit last month accused Apple of suppressing competition for peer-to-peer payments.

Last year, EU antitrust regulators accused Apple of taking steps to thwart rivals’ access to the technology at the center of tap-and-go transactions.

Reuters reported this week that Apple has offered to let rivals access its mobile payments systems used for mobile wallets, in a move that could resolve EU charges.

Visa and Mastercard also have faced myriad antitrust claims from merchants over transaction fees.

A U.S. appeals court in March upheld a $5.6 billion antitrust class-action settlement with more than 12 million retailers who claimed the two credit card companies unlawfully fixed fees for credit and debit cards.

The case is Mirage Wine + Spirit’s Inc v Apple Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois, No. 3:23-cv-03942.

Read more:

Venmo, Cash App users sue Apple over peer-to-peer payment fees

Apple is ordered to face Apple Pay antitrust lawsuit

Visa, MasterCard $5.6 bln settlement with retailers is upheld

(Reporting by Mike Scarcella)

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Original: AAPL Feed: Apple sued with Visa, Mastercard in card-fee antitrust case