With the dust not settled on the landmark anti-competition case against Microsoft, we find that another of the providers of a central service is under the cosh.

Visa and Mastercard, those flexible friends in most of our pockets, are the latest to feel the wrath of US antitrust watchdogs. At issue is the exclusionary nature of the deals the credit card companies sign with banks.

The watchdogs argue this stifles competition and leaves customers paying higher charges than they otherwise might. Whatever the merits of the case, it is not so much an issue in Europe, where attempts by Visa to introduce similar arrangements were rejected by the EU Commission.

Still, Europe will be closely watching the US case as the EU has spent three years examining the relationship between the credit card giants and retailers.