Metris Companies to Issue New Discover Credit Card
Metris
Companies to Issue New Discover Credit Card
Credit
card issuer Metris Companies has reached an agreement with Discover
Financial Services to issue a new Discover-branded credit card.
No specifics of the card were offered to judge how it may be
differentiated in the marketplace, but the announcement was
newsworthy nonetheless.
A
long court battle with MasterCard and Visa ended earlier this
year with a judge ordering that those organizations could not
prohibit issuing banks from partnering with other processing
companies. In effect, the verdict allowed Discover (and American
Express) to not only issue their own credit cards, but to also
serve in the same capacity as a MasterCard or Visa has traditionally
operated.
As
a result, Discover Financial Services created the Discover Network
and began working with issuers such as Metris to issue a wider-range
of Discover-branded cards. (For example, a Wal-Mart Discover
card was launched earlier this year in partnership with GE Money
Bank.)
Minnetonka,
Minnesota-based Metris is the 11th-largest bankcard issuer.
The new Discover card will be issued by Metris subsidiary Direct
Merchants Credit Card Bank, N.A. and is expected to be available
to customers by the end of 2005.
Published 09/19/05 (Modified 09/26/12)
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