NEW YORK – Shares of Discover Financial Services surged 11% yesterday after the company announced a multi-million dollar settlement with MasterCard and Visa over antitrust claims brought by Discover over the card giants one-time exclusionary clauses.
The total amount of the settlement was not announced yesterday, but Discover, the parent of the Pulse EFT network, had been seeking $6 billion in damages.
MasterCard and Visa settled a similar suit with American Express earlier this year by agreeing to pay AmEx $3.9 billion in damages.
Under the card companies’ exclusionary clauses, found by a federal court to violate antitrust laws, a credit union or bank issuer of MasterCard or Visa was prohibited from issuing competitors’ cards.
Discover shares, battered like the rest of the market in recent weeks, closed up $1.16 yesterday to $11.76.
