n a supplemental brief filed Dec. 13, 2002, MasterCard International asked federal Judge John Gleeson to dismiss the Wal-Mart antitrust litigation before it goes to trial in April 2003. The request was on the basis that "the retailers' claims are legally and factually deficient, and do not merit being presented to a jury."

This is the latest news in the Wal-Mart class-action lawsuit filed against Visa/MasterCard in 1996. Wal-Mart and other retailers claim that as part of accepting the associations' credit cards and an "honor all cards" policy, Visa and MasterCard forced retailers to accept their more costly offline debit cards, which require a signature, rather than cheaper online debit cards, which require a PIN.

The retailers are claiming $10 billion in damages from fees they paid from accepting the offline debit cards; MasterCard says Wal-Mart and other retailers have made billions of dollars in sales on MasterCard debit and credit card purchases.

"What the retailers behind the lawsuit want is to continue reaping huge profits from accepting MasterCard cards, while shifting their cost of accepting those cards to the American consumer," said Noah Hanft, MasterCard's general counsel, in a company statement.

Hanft added that retailers participating in the suit want to choose which debit option their customers use instead of the customers themselves being able to choose.

"The retailers' case is at odds with both the law and the reality of how consumers pay for goods and services at stores like Wal-Mart," said Hanft. "Wal-Mart's customers can choose to pay using any of the wide range of payment options Wal-Mart accepts, including cash, checks, MasterCard and PIN debit. No MasterCard rule stops Wal-Mart from suggesting - as it routinely does - that customers pay with PIN debit."

MasterCard says the papers it filed with the supplemental brief provide the most recent evidence of competition in the payments industry and disprove the belief that MasterCard and its rival Visa conspired to choke competition from PIN debit networks.

"Antitrust laws, which are designed to protect consumers, encourage practices like MasterCard's 'Honor All Cards' rule, which creates a greater range of choice for consumers and protects their freedom of choice," said Hanft.