This move follows Discover Financial Services' unit, Pulse Network, settling a lawsuit in Texas earlier this year, which accused Visa of obstructing competition in the multibillion-dollar debit card network services market, causing merchants to pay higher fees.

The Justice Department sued Visa on Tuesday, accusing the credit card company of illegally maintaining a monopoly over the debit market. The DOJ argues that Visa has limited competition by entering into exclusive agreements with merchants and banks that force most or all of their transactions to run on Visa’s network.

Visa has hired a pair of prominent Washington, D.C., antitrust lawyers to help it fight the U.S. Justice Department's new lawsuit accusing the payments giant of monopolizing debit card markets.

Visa’s heft in the market has allowed it to pressure merchants into accepting its cards to avoid steep costs on billions of dollars of transactions, the DOJ says.

"Visa's unlawful conduct affects not just the price of one thing, but the price of nearly everything," Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

The U.S. Justice Department is suing Visa for monopolizing the debit card market while "charging significant fees and stifling competition."