Visa Wanted a Vast Empire. First, It Had to Beat Back Its Foes.

Visa V -1.80%decrease; red down pointing triangle is winning the decadeslong battle for control over how U.S. consumers pay for everything. It got here in part by paying for competition to go away and by using fees as weapons to make partners bend to its wishes. 

One by one—as e-commerce exploded and Americans moved away from using cash—Visa has come up with strategies to keep financial and tech companies, including JPMorgan Chase, Apple, PayPal Holdings, Square and others from encroaching on its turf. All the while, it has steadily raked in a cut of many transactions done in this country—an arrangement that merchants and lawmakers have criticized for years.