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New York — November 07, 2007 — As earlier reported by CNBC, American Express said today that it has reached an agreement to drop Visa as a defendant in a lawsuit alleging that MasterCard, Visa and their member banks had 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 also 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 lawsuit, which was filed in Federal court (November 2004) by American Express, seeks monetary damages for the lost business opportunity that resulted from the illegal conspiracy to boycott American Express. American Express is expected to seek damages in the billions of dollars. As the sole remaining defendant, MasterCard would be liable for the full amount.

“The size of this settlement, along with earlier court rulings, underscores the seriousness of the damage done by the illegal boycott,” said Kenneth I. Chenault, chairman and chief executive. “We plan to move forward with the litigation to hold MasterCard accountable for the illegal actions that blocked banks from working with us for many years and to seek full compensation for the value that would have been generated for our shareholders.”

Under terms of the agreement reached with Visa, Inc., Visa USA, and Visa International, American Express will receive an aggregate maximum payment of $2.25 billion. An initial payment of $1.13 billion will likely be recognized by American Express in income during the fourth quarter 2007. The remainder, payable in installments of up to $70 million per quarter over the next four years, is subject to achieving certain quarterly performance criteria within the U.S. network services business of American Express. More at American Express.

Nov 07, ‘07 — CNBC is reports, “Visa has tentatively agreed to pay American Express a record $2.25 billion to settle a three-year-old antitrust case, CNBC has learned.” The payment, which still needs to be approved by Visa’s members, is being described as the largest antitrust settlement in U.S. history.

American Express filed an antitrust suit against Visa and MasterCard three years ago, claiming that American Express had been shut out of offering credit cards through banks that were Visa or MasterCard members.

MasterCard hasn’t settled the suit and apparently will take the case to court. If it loses, it faces triple damages.

One reason why Visa settled is that the Justice Department and the courts had weighed in against both Visa and MasterCard and found that they engaged in anticompetitive practices, a ruling upheld on appeal by the Supreme Court. Also, Visa is preparing for an initial public offering soon.

The lawsuit came on the heels of the Supreme Court’s vindication of the DOJ and sought solely to establish monetary damages that American Express suffered because of its two competitors’ actions, given that the courts had already ruled in its favor. The suit also had named a number of banks that cooperated with Visa and MasterCard in shutting out American Express.

Though it did not attach an official dollar number to the suit, American Express said it lost billions because of the practices. The company said it was prevented from launching a planned new generation of products and for eight years could not compete on a level ground with Visa and MasterCard in providing network services to banks.

Visa plans to pay half of the $2.25 billion now and the other half over four years. The deal has been approved by Visa’s general counsel.

Visa’s settlement could be announced in coming days and is a big victory for famed antitrust lawyer David Boies. At the time the suit was filed, Boies alleged the defendants were operating as “a cartel to eliminate competition and ignore the American consumer.”" More at CNBC.

New York - October 22, 2007 - American Express Company today reported third quarter income from continuing operations of $1.1 billion, up 15 percent from $934 million a year ago. Diluted earnings per share were $0.90, up 18 percent from $0.76. As previously disclosed, the Company entered into an agreement to sell its international banking subsidiary, American Express Bank Ltd.(AEB). Net income, which includes AEB within discontinued operations, totaled $1.1 billion for the quarter, up 10 percent from $967 million a year ago. On a per share basis, net income was $0.90, up 14 percent from $0.79.

“Our strong earnings growth this quarter reflected a 16 percent rise in combined spending by consumers, small businesses and corporate Cardmembers. Investments that expanded our service, rewards and loyalty programs helped to add 2.5 million cards during the quarter while also generating excellent spending increases from existing Cardmembers,” said Kenneth Chenault, chairman and chief executive.

More at AmericanExpress (in pdf)