Visa to Pay AmEx $2.1 Billion to Settle Antitrust Case

NEW YORK – Visa Inc., which is preparing to go public in an initial offering, yesterday announced it has agreed to pay American Express $2.25 billion to settle charges that Visa, MasterCard and their issuing banks and credit unions illegally blocked American Express from the bank-issued card business in the United States.
 
Under terms of the settlement agreement, Visa will pay a maximum amount of $2.25 billion to American Express. Individual banks named in the lawsuit will be dropped as defendants. These include: J.P. Morgan Chase, Capital One, U.S. Bancorp, Wells Fargo and Providian. The agreement is subject to the approval of Visa’s member banks.
 
MasterCard remains the sole defendant in the American Express case. The suit is related to a civil suit brought by the U.S. Justice Department in which the court ruled that Visa’s and MasterCard’s exclusionary policy barring its issuing banks and credit unions from issuing any cards beside one of the two was in violation of federal antitrust laws.
 
Settlement of the case comes as Visa is issuing shares to its credit union and bank owners in advance of its IPO.