Sept 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice plans

to file a lawsuit against Visa, the world's largest

payments network operator, alleging that the company illegally

monopolized the country's debit card market, Bloomberg News

reported on Monday.

The antitrust division is set to sue Visa in federal court

as early as Tuesday, accusing it of various anticompetitive

behaviors, the report said, citing unnamed sources.

The Justice Department is preparing to accuse Visa of taking

measures to prevent competitors from challenging its dominance

in the debit card market, according to the report.

Visa and the DOJ did not immediately respond to Reuters'

requests for comment.

In 2023, the DOJ's antitrust division issued an

investigative demand to Visa, seeking documents and information

about its debit card practices in the U.S. and competition with

other payment networks.

The probe, initiated in 2021, investigated whether Visa uses

anticompetitive practices in the debit card market. The payment

processor, at that time, said that it believed its debit

practices complied with applicable laws.

This move follows Discover Financial Services' ( DFS ) 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.

Visa's rival Mastercard ( MA ) has previously faced similar

antitrust investigations regarding its U.S. debit program and

competition with other payment networks.