⁍ The Justice Department could decide soon whether it will sue to block the deal, the report said.

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⁍ The department is concerned it could limit nascent competition in the payments sector.

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⁍ The deal, which would boost Visa’s access to the space, was announced in January.

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– The Justice Department may sue to block Visa’s $5.3 billion purchase of Plaid, a startup payment processor, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter. The department is concerned the deal could limit competition in the payments sector. The Justice Department has also filed a petition with a US district court in Massachusetts asking it to require consulting firm Bain & Co to turn over documents as part of the antitrust review, including some that discuss Visa’s strategies around pricing and competition with other debit card networks. Bain is “asserting unsupported claims of privilege over the documents,” the department said in a statement. Visa and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment regarding the newspaper report. The deal, which would boost Visa’s access to space in the payments sector, was announced in January.