Indirectly. This is kind of a complicated issue, so let me unpack it a bit. First, it's absolutely true that litigation is super-expensive. But from the comp

Indirectly. This is kind of a complicated issue, so let me unpack it a bit. First, it's absolutely true that litigation is super-expensive. But from the company end, that doesn't necessarily make a real difference---arbitration is fairly expensive too (though not as expensive as litigation), they're not likely to realize huge savings from shoving consumers into all the arbitration agreements. Where costs really matter is from the consumer side, and it's intertwined with class actions. Arbitrations don't have class actions, real court does (in most states). So an arbitration clause is really a "no class actions" clause. And, because of litigation costs, a "no class actions" clause is really really effective at keeping consumers out of court at all. Why? Because a huge number of consumer claims are for really small rip-offs. For example, the phone company sneaks an extra 50 cents onto the bill of everyone every month for a fake tax that doesn't really exist, and in doing so dodges some rate regulation. No consumer in their right mind is going to incur the time and expense of suing (or arbitrating) individually for 50 cents a month. But the phone company, with millions and millions of customers, benefits hugely from this ripoff. With a class action system, some entrepreneurial lawyer can bring suit and win those millions back on behalf of the class of ripped-off consumers. Now, those class actions are pretty controversial, because the ripped-off consumers never really see any direct benefit from those lawsuits. They usually get some bullshit coupon in the mail, while the lawyer and one or two plaintiffs (the "named plaintiffs" or "class representatives") walk away with a big payday. But the point isn't to compensate the people who lost the 50 cents. The point is to hold out the threat of those stupid huge judgments against companies who would otherwise nickel-and-dime mass consumers to death. So when companies kill the class action, they know that they won't be held accountable in the courts for that kind of misconduct, and they can engage in small ripoffs with impunity. (Mostly less blatant than fake tax thing, because government regulators might pick up on that.)