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18 

OHIO v. AMERICAN EXPRESS CO. 

Opinion of the Court 

3 
The plaintiffs also failed to prove that Amex’s antisteer-
ing  provisions  have  stifled  competition  among  credit-card
companies.  To the contrary, while these agreements have 
been in place, the credit-card market experienced expand-
ing output and improved quality.  Amex’s business model 
spurred  Visa  and  MasterCard  to  offer  new  premium  card
categories with higher rewards.  And it has increased the 
availability  of  card  services,  including  free  banking  and
card-payment  services  for  low-income  customers  who 
otherwise would not be served.  Indeed, between 1970 and 
2001, the percentage of households with credit cards more 
than quadrupled, and the proportion of households in the 
bottom-income  quintile  with  credit  cards  grew  from  just
2% to over 38%.  See D. Evans & R. Schmalensee, Paying 
With  Plastic:  The  Digital  Revolution  in  Buying  and  Bor-
rowing 88–89 (2d ed. 2005) (Paying With Plastic). 

Nor have Amex’s antisteering provisions ended competi-
tion  between  credit-card  networks  with  respect  to  mer-
chant  fees.  Instead,  fierce  competition  between  networks
has constrained Amex’s ability to raise these fees and has, 
at times, forced Amex to lower them.  For instance, when 
Amex  raised  its  merchant  prices  between  2005  and  2010,
some  merchants  chose  to  leave  its  network.   88  F. Supp. 
3d,  at  197.  And  when  its  remaining  merchants  com-
plained, Amex stopped raising its merchant prices.  Id., at 
198. 
In  another  instance  in  the  late  1980s  and  early 
1990s,  competition  forced  Amex  to  offer  lower  merchant 
fees  to  “everyday  spend”  merchants—supermarkets,  gas 
stations,  pharmacies,  and  the  like—to  persuade  them  to
accept Amex.  See id., at 160–161, 202. 

In  addition,  Amex’s  competitors  have  exploited  its 
higher  merchant  fees  to  their  advantage.  By  charging
lower merchant fees, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover have 
achieved  broader  merchant  acceptance—approximately  3
million  more  locations  than  Amex.    Id.,  at  204.    This