On October 4, 2010, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the US District for the Eastern District of New York against credit card companies Visa, MasterCard, and American Express. The lawsuit challenged the companies' internal policies which prevented merchants from providing consumers incentives for using credit cards with lower merchant fees. Visa and MasterCard agreed to a settlement agreement which allowed merchants to express a preference for the types of credit payment they accept and provided consumers with information on the costs incurred by merchants through credit card usage. American Express denied any wrongdoing. The lawsuit followed President Barack Obama's signing of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act in May 2009.

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