Apple , Visa and Mastercard have persuaded a U.S. judge to dismiss a lawsuit accusing them of conspiring to suppress competition in the payments network market and causing merchants to pay inflated transaction fees.

Apple, Mastercard and Visa have successfully dodged a lawsuit that claimed the companies were colluding to maintain the current status quo in point-of-sale-payment card services, Reuters reports. The original 2023 lawsuit filed by beverage retailer Mirage Wine and Spirits alleged that Apple was essentially accepting bribes to not develop its open payment network or open up the iPhone's NFC-based "tap to pay" functionality to competitors.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) and Visa (NYSE:V) recently won dismissal of an antitrust lawsuit accusing the companies of colluding to block payment network competition and ratchet up merchant fees. U.S. District Judge David Dugan ruled the plaintiffs' claims lacked evidence,