US Supreme Court to weigh American Express appeal

The US Supreme Court said Friday it would consider a bid by American Express to prevent merchants from jointly filing an antitrust lawsuit over the credit card company's fees. Restaurants, retailers and other customers sued American Express collectively in 2003, accusing the firm of violating antitrust laws by forcing them to accept ordinary AmEx cards as a condition for accepting its premium and corporate cards, even though the fees are higher than those of competitors Visa and MasterCard. The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York has ruled three times on the case, saying American Express cannot enforce a clause in its contract with retailers that prohibits merchants from bringing class-action claims against the company. The Supreme Court is set to weigh AmEx's petition early next year, with a decision set before the end of its session in late June.