REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 27 (Reuters) - Apple (AAPL.O) was ordered on Wednesday to face a private antitrust lawsuit by payment card issuers accusing the company of thwarting competition for its Apple Pay mobile wallet. The proposed class action is led by Illinois' Consumers Co-op Credit Union, and Iowa's Affinity Credit Union and GreenState Credit Union. According to the complaint, Apple's conduct forces more than 4,000 banks and credit unions that use Apple Pay to pay at least $1 billion of excess fees, and harms consumers by minimizing the incentive to make Apple Pay safer and easier to use. White said the plaintiffs plausibly alleged that Apple allow alternatives to Apple Pay, and that more competition would spur innovation and reduce prices. The case is Affinity Credit Union et al v Apple Inc, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No.

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Persons: Yves Herman, Jeffrey White, Steve Berman, White, Apple, Jonathan Stempel, Mike Scarcella, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Apple, REUTERS, Illinois, Consumers, Credit Union, Iowa's Affinity Credit Union, GreenState Credit Union, Google, Samsung, Apple Pay, Affinity Credit, Apple Inc, Court, Northern District of, Thomson Locations: Brussels, Belgium, Oakland , California, Cupertino , California, Northern District, Northern District of California, New York