Card Briefs: Visa, Amex Settle Rewards Program Fight

Visa U.S.A. and American Express Co. have settled litigation on an Advanta Corp. promotion that combined an Amex program and the Visa brand.

Their settlement came after an April 17 agreement between Visa and Advanta, when the card-issuing banking company said it would end its Rewards Accelerator program linking Visa's name to American Express' Membership Rewards program.

"The Rewards Accelerator program was a blatant effort by American Express to attract new customers using the Visa name," said a prepared statement by Michael Beindorff, Visa U.S.A.'s executive vice president for marketing and product management.

"It's important to point out the product was attractive to consumers because of the connection to the Membership Rewards program and the American Express brand name," said Catherine J. Cummings, an American Express spokeswoman.

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