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)