The Competition Tribunal (“Tribunal”) has, for the second time, extended the interim relief granted to Depansum Pty (Ltd) (“Depansum”) against Visa Inc. (“Visa”) and Visa Sub-Saharan Africa Pty (Ltd) (“Visa SA”) in February 2024. This, in effect, means that Visa may not prohibit Nedbank Limited (“Nedbank”) from processing transactions for Depansum.
The parties
Depansum provides e-commerce payment processing solutions in South Africa for merchants based offshore. It alleges that Visa and Visa SA established rules that are treated as a binding contract between Visa and its members (including banks), and that Visa uses these rules to prohibit banks (in this case, Nedbank) from using Depansum’s payment system. Depansum alleges that this conduct constitutes an abuse of dominance and contravenes the Competition Act, 89 of 1998, as amended.
Visa disputed the allegations and opposed Depansum’s interim relief application. Among others, it alleged that Depansum’s local collecting agent activities (for foreign merchants) in South Africa contravene the country’s exchange control laws. Visa argued that it was not prepared to permit its payment network to be associated with unlawful conduct. In addition, Visa argued that Depansum failed to demonstrate that Visa’s enforcement of its rules was anti-competitive or that it had any anti-competitive effects.
Background
On 14 December 2023, the Tribunal heard an interim relief application brought by Depansum against Visa and Visa SA. Nedbank was cited as an interested party in the interim relief application and no relief was sought by Depansum against Nedbank. The interim relief order was first granted on 19 February 2024 and on application, extended on 16 August 2024 for a further six months. Depansum subsequently sought a second extension of the interim relief order. The matter is currently on appeal in the CAC. The application for the second extension was unopposed as Visa and Visa SA consented to a further extension. The Tribunal’s interim relief order, issued in February 2024, can be accessed here:
https://www.comptrib.co.za/case-detail/20537
