BOSTON, May 8, 2025 — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by OV Loop Inc., a Massachusetts-based technology startup, that accused Mastercard Inc. of unlawfully blocking its attempts to build a universal digital wallet for consumers.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani ruled on Wednesday that OV Loop failed to present sufficient facts to support its claim that Mastercard monopolized the mobile payments market. The court concluded that the startup’s allegations did not meet the legal standard required under U.S. antitrust law.

OV Loop had argued that Mastercard denied it access to a critical digital payment service—commonly known as tokenization—that it said was essential to develop a unified digital commerce application. The company claimed this restriction hindered its ability to compete with digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Wallet, and sought more than $75 million in damages.

In her ruling, Indira emphasized that the startup’s claims did not overcome a foundational principle in antitrust law: a private company has the right to choose its business partners.

“OV Loop’s allegations do not support a plausible claim that Mastercard refused to deal with it in a way that violates antitrust law,” Indira stated. The court also noted that OV Loop admitted Mastercard competes with other networks including Visa, from which the company successfully obtained token services.

Mastercard, based in Purchase, New York, had moved to dismiss the case, arguing OV Loop had not demonstrated any direct refusal to transact or exclusive control over the mobile payments market.

Founded in 2018, OV Loop has positioned itself as a developer of a so-called “super app” designed to integrate consumer payments and merchant services in a single platform. The company claimed that Mastercard’s alleged conduct prevented it from gaining a foothold in the growing digital wallet sector.

Neither Mastercard nor OV Loop provided comment following the court’s decision. OV Loop was represented by Lawrence Green of Burns & Levinson, Edward Kang of Kang Haggerty, and Oliver Griffin of Griffin Partners. Mastercard was represented by Kenneth Gallo of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.

The case is OV Loop Inc v. Mastercard Inc, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, No. 1:24-cv-10412.

Editor’s Note

While the court found OV Loop’s antitrust claims insufficient, the lawsuit raises broader questions about the hurdles newer entrants face in digital payments. Access to tokenization services, often controlled by legacy networks, remains a sticking point for startups trying to compete in an ecosystem dominated by a few incumbents. For many fintechs, the path to innovation runs through gates they do not control.