By Mike Scarcella
May 7 (Reuters) - Mastercard MA.N has persuaded a U.S. judge in Boston to dismiss a lawsuit from a technology startup that accused the payments giant of illegally blocking its efforts to build a “universal” digital wallet for consumers.
In a ruling on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said plaintiff OV Loop had not presented enough facts to support its claim that Mastercard was monopolizing the market for mobile payment services for a consumer-merchant network.
OV Loop’s lawsuit, filed last year, accused Mastercard of violating U.S. antitrust law by denying it access to an essential digital payments technology the company needed to help build a unified commerce platform. The Massachusetts-based company was seeking more than $75 million in damages.
Talwani also said OV Loop could not rebut a general rule in antitrust law that “a private business may exercise its own independent discretion in choosing parties with which to deal.”
Mastercard declined to comment on Wednesday, and a lawyer for OV Loop did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
OV Loop’s lawsuit alleged Mastercard was granting selective access to tokens that the plaintiff said are needed for a company to compete for digital wallet payments like those used for Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Wallet.
Founded in 2018, OV Loop wants to develop and market a “super app” for digital commerce, offering services to consumers and merchants. OV Loop said it was able to obtain token services from Visa.
In seeking dismissal of the lawsuit, Mastercard said OV Loop had failed to allege any actual refusal by Mastercard to do business with it.
"OV Loop admits that Mastercard competes with three other payment card networks," Mastercard also told the court.
The case is OV Loop Inc v. Mastercard Inc, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, No. 1:24-cv-10412.
For plaintiff: Lawrence Green of Burns & Levinson; Edward Kang of Kang Haggerty; and Oliver Griffin of Griffin Partners
For defendant: Ken Gallo and Andrew Finch of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
Read more:
Mastercard sued by digital wallet startup over access to payment tech
Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.