June 25, 2008 By Justin McHenry

MasterCard Inc. and American Express announced today a lawsuit settlement that will result in MasterCard paying up to $1.8 billion to American Express. The settlement stems from American Express’ lawsuit against MasterCard over alleged anti-competitive practices that for years prevented American Express from forming banking relationships that could have widened its distribution. American Express settled a similar lawsuit against Visa last year for over $2 billion.

The MasterCard payments to American Express will be made in quarterly installments over three years.

The announcement of the settlement is timely for American Express in that the company’s CEO Kenneth Chenault says credit conditions have deteriorated “beyond our expectations” due to the worsening state of the economy, and the money gives the company “a multi-year source of funds that should, among other things, help to lessen the impact of this weakening economic cycle.”

In 2006, American Express (and Discover as well) were given the ability to partner with banks to create their own payment networks like those of MasterCard and Visa after American Express successfully argued in the courts that MasterCard and Visa should not be allowed to force banks into exclusive contracts. The result of that decision opened up the ability for there to be, for example, a Citi American Express Card or a Bank of America American Express Card, where in the past those banks could only offer Visa- or MasterCard-branded cards. The lawsuits by American Express attempted to recoup monies it said were lost to it due to these exclusive agreements that Visa and MasterCard negotiated in exchange for the banks using their payment networks and branding their cards as “Visa” or “MasterCard.”

Since the lawsuits were initially filed, both MasterCard and Visa have become public companies and seen their stock prices skyrocket. Despite the huge payment amounts each is making to American Express, the settlements were seen as smart moves because they remove outstanding lawsuits that could cause concern in the eyes of current and future shareholders.

June 12, 2008 By Liz Morris

Airline Virgin Atlantic today announced the launch of two Virgin Atlantic American Express Cards, with varying rewards and annual fees depending on your preferences, including the possibility of riding into space on Virgin’s sister service Virgin Galactic.

The Virgin Atlantic Black Card offers 3 miles per dollar spent on Virgin Atlantic purchases, and 1.5 miles per dollar on all other purchases, plus 20,000 bonus miles after your first purchase with the card, and up to 15,000 bonus miles every year that you continue to carry the card. The annual fee is $90.

The Virgin Atlantic White Card offers 3 miles per dollar on Virgin purchases, and 1 mile per dollar everywhere else, plus 12,500 bonus miles after your first card purchase and up to 7,500 bonus miles every year that you carry the card. The annual fee is $49.

Cardholders can use their miles for travel on Virgin Atlantic or one of their 14 airline partners, as well as cabin upgrades, car rentals, hotels, or a trip into space on Virgin Galactic (no word on how many miles that will require).

From now through January of 2009, for every $10,000 they spend with the card, cardholders get an automatic entry for a chance to win a trip into space on Virgin Galactic, without redeeming any of their miles.

The Virgin Atlantic American Express Cards are issued by Bank of America.

Click here to apply for a Virgin Atlantic credit card.

June 11, 2008 By Liz Morris

Ultimate Fighting Championship, which stages popular mixed martial arts competitions, is set to launch the UFC Visa Card on June 15. The card will feature a standard reward points program, with points redeemable toward UFC merchandise as well as cash, gift cards, merchandise, travel rewards, etc.

According to an article yesterday from the Associated Press, the new UFC Visa is part of a multi-pronged merchandising blitz that will include UFC action figures, clothing, video games, and trading cards.

The UFC Visa Card will be issued by US Bank.

June 5, 2008 By Seth Harbison

AT&T and their credit card partner Citi announced the launch today of the AT&T Universal Business Rewards Card, a credit card targeted at small business owners.

The new AT&T card offers Citi ThankYou points as rewards — 5 points for every dollar spent on eligible AT&T products and services, 3 points per dollar at participating office-supply retailers, gas stations and service providers such as accounting and legal firms, and 1 point per dollar everywhere else. Points can be redeemed for travel, gift cards, merchandise and more. Cardholders can earn up to 100,000 points per year.

The card also offers some other pro-business benefits, perhaps most notably Citi’s Prescription Discount program that offers 10% to 60% savings on prescription drugs at over 48,000 pharmacies.

Click here for more info or to apply for the AT&T Universal Business Rewards Card.

June 4, 2008 By Seth Harbison

Online travel site Orbitz has re-launched its co-branded credit card, partnering with Capital One in an attempt to create the longest credit card name in history — the Orbitz Visa Credit Card powered by Capital One No Hassle Rewards.

The Orbitz Visa (for short) offers 3 points per dollar on most travel purchases via Orbitz.com, and 1 point per dollar on card purchases anywhere else. The card also offers 2,000 bonus points for booking complete vacations via Orbitz, 1,000 bonus points for booking hotels via Orbitz and a 500-point bonus on airline ticket purchases. Points can be used for free or discount travel, cash back, gift cards or merchandise.

In a neat twist, cardholders also get a 250-point “refueling” bonus every time they redeem their existing reward points, so the point balance never goes down to zero.

Prior to its new launch with Capital One, Orbitz had offered a MasterCard in partnership with Juniper Bank/Barclays.

If you’re interested, click here to apply for the Orbitz Visa.

June 2, 2008Â

While average rates in most credit card categories dipped slightly this week, the average rate for reward credit cards actually rose, indicative of the repricing being done by several issuers on select cards. From this point forward, we at IndexCreditCards.com doubt any further rate cuts will be coming — even if the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates again later this month, we believe many card companies will re-price their offerings for new customers, taking away any benefit the Fed might be seeking to give.

The average credit card rate for non-reward consumer credit cards is now 12.38%, down from 12.41%, and setting a new two-year low in our survey.

However, the average rate on credit cards with rewards rose to 14.38%, up from 14.27% two weeks ago, and identical to the average rate calculated at the beginning of May. Looking at these numbers, we can say that the April 30 Federal Reserve interest rate cut has been erased as far as reward credit cards are concerned; after an initial dip, rates are right back to where they were before the cut.

The averages listed above attempt to take into account the multiple tiers that many credit card issuers offer, instead of accounting for only the lowest listed rates. However, IndexCreditCards.com also tracks the very lowest listed rates, those reserved for customers with the very best credit. This week those averages are at 9.22% for non-reward consumer cards and 12.04% for consumer cards with rewards.

Small business credit card rates continue to fall. The average rate for non-reward business credit cards is 10.43%, down from 10.52% two weeks ago and 10.80% on May 2. The average rate for reward business credit cards stands at 11.71%, down from 11.79% two weeks ago, and 12.14% at the beginning of May.

Student credit card rates dipped slightly in this week’s survey. The average student card rate is 14.41%, down from 14.44% on May 19, and 14.57% on May 2.

Financial institutions represented in the survey include Advanta, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Discover, National City, Pulaski Bank, U.S. Bank, Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo and more.