he seven-year legal battle pitting Visa and MasterCard against Wal-Mart and millions of other retailers isn't scheduled to go to trial until April 28, 2003, but the two sides were in court Jan. 13 for a three-hour summary judgment hearing in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Visa and MasterCard recently joined forces and asked Judge John Gleeson to throw out the lawsuit. A summary judgment is a decision made by a judge on the basis of statements and evidence presented for the record without a trial. It is used when there is no dispute as to the facts of the case and one party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

Wal-Mart and millions of other retailers filed a class-action lawsuit in 1996 claiming that as part of their "honor all cards" policy, Visa and MasterCard violate antitrust laws by forcing merchants to accept their more costly offline debit cards, which require a signature, rather than cheaper online debit cards, which require a PIN. The merchants are seeking billions of dollars in damages.

In the Jan. 13 hearing, Visa and MasterCard argued that other payment networks, especially the PIN networks, are in fact thriving (Visa said the PIN networks grew by more than 38% between 2001 and 2002) and that the associations' policies give consumers even more of a choice for method of payment. Kevin Arquit, an attorney for MasterCard, told the judge there's no evidence of a conspiracy.

The merchants, led by Lloyd Constantine, claim a paper trail proves that the defendants deliberately set out to crush independent electronic networks. Constantine asked Gleeson to rule in favor of their antitrust claims, which would leave only damages to be decided in the trial.

The merchants' attorneys presented more than 1,000 documents and extensive deposition testimony as evidence supporting the their request for the court to grant summary judgment on Visa's and MasterCard's alleged "tying of products" and "attempt to monopolize" the debit market. Gleeson said he would take all of the motions under advisement but did not make any ruling at the hearing.