American Express, MasterCard Execs Voice Antitrust Issues to Senate Panel

Executives with leading U.S. credit card providers lashed out on Capitol Hill late last month, with American Express Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Harvey Golub alleging that Visa International’s and MasterCard International’s anticompetitive behavior has “damaged the interests of consumers; increased operating cost for merchants; and retarded innovation.”

During a hearing before the financial institutions subcommittee of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Golub said Visa and MasterCard adopted bylaws and policies that impose “extraordinary limitations on what banks may do and how they serve their customers.” These policies prohibit their members banks from issuing cards that run on the American Express or Discover networks. However, Noah Hanft, senior vice president and U.S. counsel for MasterCard, rebutted that banks and consumers have numerous choices in the payment card industry, adding that American Express is seeking a “free ride” on the structural investments MasterCard has spent years building.
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ERG/Motorola Alliance Gets Ventura Co. Contract

Transit officials in Ventura County, Calif., expect a proposed smart card-based transit automated fare collection (AFC) and tracking system will enable them to manage funds better and reduce traffic congestion among its buses. The Ventura County Transportation Commission (VCTC) and the ERG Ltd.-Motorola Inc. alliance are designing a system that integrates contactless smart cards, the global positioning system (GPS) and automated passenger count (APC) for six individual transportation operators in the region.

The system will use GPS satellites to track the location of each of the 100 buses in the system, and the APC will monitor where and when riders get on and off each bus. This data will help VCTC best use transit resources by identifying rider travel patterns, comparing bus actual arrival times to the schedule and spotting repeating traffic bottlenecks.
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