Opinion ID: 6330404
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Market Players

Text: Having sketched the market, we bring in the relevant players: Visa and Pulse. Both operate debit networks. Pulse has a PIN network; Visa has a signature network (“Visa Debit”) and a PIN network (“Interlink”). Both companies have also developed PINless options: Pulse’s “Pulse Pay Express” and Visa’s “PAVD” (short for “PIN-authenticated Visa Debit”). The signature debit network market is dominated by Visa and Mastercard, which are the signature network on 99% of debit cards. Of the two, Visa is the bigger dog, currently with a 70–75% share of all signature network transactions. The PIN debit network market is more crowded. It includes not only Interlink and Pulse but also Maestro, STAR, NYCE, ACCEL, and Shazam, among others. Federal law affects the debit network market. The “Durbin Amendment” to the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act regulates the market in two ways relevant here. 4 First, the Amendment forces issuers to enable at least two unaffiliated debit networks on all debit cards. See 15 U.S.C. § 1693o- 2(b)(1)(A); 12 C.F.R. § 235.7(a)(1). For Visa-branded debit cards (on which Visa’s signature network is enabled), this means issuers must enable at least one non-Visa PIN network on each card. Second, the Amendment gives merchants total autonomy to choose which debit network to route transactions over. See 15 U.S.C. § 1693o-2(b)(1)(B); 12 C.F.R. § 235.7(b). 5 4 See Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Pub. L. No. 111–203, 124 Stat. 1376, § 1075 (2010); 15 U.S.C. §§ 1693 et seq. See also generally NACS v. Bd. of Gov. of Fed. Reserve Sys., 746 F.3d 474, 479–81 (D.C. Cir. 2014); TCF Nat’l Bank v. Bernanke, 643 F.3d 1158, 1164–65 (8th Cir. 2011) (discussing Durbin Amendment). 5 Before the Durbin Amendment, Visa had “all-Visa” exclusive arrangements with issuers where the only networks enabled on a Visa debit card were Visa’s signature network and Interlink. By 2010, Visa processed around 45% of all PIN debit network transactions in the United States. 4 Case: 18-20669 Document: 00516267971 Page: 5 Date Filed: 04/05/2022 No. 18-20669