Payments company Everi is deep in the legal trenches with Koin Payments, a company that alleges Everi is violating anti-trust laws with its casino contracts.
The initial issue dates back to an attempted deal between Baldini’s Casino in Sparks, NV and Koin for Koin to provide the property with a digital wallet.
Everi took Baldini’s to a Nevada state court, alleging the casino violated the terms of its agreement with Everi, which allegedly has exclusivity as the property’s cash access provider for digital wallets. Koin and Baldini’s filed a motion to dismiss earlier this year, which was largely denied.
Two weeks later, Koin filed suit in Nevada District Court alleging that Everi is committing unlawful restraint of trade through tying practices, exclusive dealing and attempted monopolization.
The tying practices referenced by Koin allege that Everi signs contracts with casinos that require the properties to use more than one of Everi’s financial services, which include ATMs, kiosks, cash management and centralized credit. Koin also claims that Everi contracts include steep penalties, auto-renewals and other elements that make it very difficult for casino partners to switch to a new provider.
The lawsuit also takes a shot at the ongoing merger with Everi and IGT, suggesting that the deal strengthens Everi’s attempted monopoly on the industry. As the suit points out, casino management systems provided by IGT tend to be easily tied to casino wallets, further entrenching Everi with its partners.
This week, Everi filed a motion to dismiss the case, firing back at most all of Koin’s claims.
At the heart of Everi’s argument is that Koin makes the faulty assumption that cash access providers and digital wallets are distinctly separate markets. Everi countered that argument, pointing out that many of Koin’s claims that Everi is taking from the company’s digital wallet business indicate that the two businesses overlap.
Everi also took exception with the tying accusations, arguing that just because the company’s partners may choose to make a deal for multiple Everi products doesn’t mean that the company demanded the products be bundled together.
Koin has until July 22 to respond to Everi’s motion to dismiss.
Everi declined to comment to SBC Americas on this story.
