Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/17pdf/16-1454_5h26.pdf
Page Number: 20.0

16 

OHIO v. AMERICAN EXPRESS CO. 

Opinion of the Court 

491  F. 3d,  at  390;  Virginia  Atlantic  Airways  Ltd.,  257 
F. 3d, at 264.  They failed to do so. 

1 

The plaintiffs did not offer any evidence that the price of 
credit-card  transactions  was  higher  than  the  price  one
would  expect  to  find  in  a  competitive  market.  As  the 
District  Court  found,  the  plaintiffs  failed  to  offer  any 
reliable  measure  of  Amex’s  transaction  price  or  profit 
margins.  88  F. Supp.  3d,  at  198,  215.  And  the  evidence 
about  whether  Amex  charges  more  than  its  competitors
was ultimately inconclusive.  Id., at 199, 202, 215. 

Amex’s increased merchant fees reflect increases in the 
value of its services and the cost of its transactions, not an 
ability  to  charge  above  a  competitive  price.  Amex  began
raising  its  merchant  fees  in  2005  after  Visa  and  Master-
Card raised their fees in the early 2000s.  Id., at 195, 199– 
200.  As  explained,  Amex  has  historically  charged  higher 
merchant  fees  than  these  competitors  because  it  delivers
wealthier  cardholders  who  spend  more  money. 
Id.,  at 
200–201.  Amex’s  higher  merchant  fees  are  based  on  a
careful study of how much additional value its cardholders 
offer merchants.  See id., at 192–193.  On the other side of 
the market, Amex uses its higher merchant fees to offer its 
cardholders  a  more  robust  rewards  program,  which  is
necessary  to  maintain  cardholder  loyalty  and  encourage 
the  level  of  spending  that  makes  Amex  valuable  to  mer-
chants.  Id., at 160, 191–195.  That Amex allocates prices
between merchants and cardholders differently from Visa
and  MasterCard  is  simply  not  evidence  that  it  wields
market power to achieve anticompetitive ends.  See Evans 
& Noel 670–671; Klein 574–575, 594–595, 598, 626. 

In addition, the evidence that does exist cuts against the
plaintiffs’ view that Amex’s antisteering provisions are the 
cause of any increases in merchant fees.  Visa and Master-
Card’s  merchant  fees  have  continued  to  increase,  even