Bank of America and Visa Renew Partnership

October 2, 2006; 08:05 AM
Bank of America and Visa USA today announced a six-year partnership agreement, renewing their long-standing relationship through 2011 and keeping Bank of America the largest issuer of Visa-branded payment cards.

As part of the renewal, Bank of America, which includes the former MBNA, will continue to issue Visa branded products and the two organizations will collaborate to develop market-leading card products to enhance the purchase experience for the Bank’s customers.

“Our goal is to delight each of our customers. Continuing our relationship with Visa helps us live up to our ongoing commitment to deliver innovative products and the very best service to our cardholders,” said Bruce Hammonds, Bank of America Card Services president.

For the past 30 years, Bank of America has been committed to driving performance of payment cards, including the growth of credit, debit, and prepaid card issuance and the delivery of enhanced services to consumers and merchants.

“This is great news for Visa, Bank of America and all of our customers who will benefit from the product and service innovations that this partnership will deliver,” said John Philip Coghlan, president and CEO of Visa USA. “Together, Visa and Bank of America have driven the migration to electronic payments. We are excited to build upon that foundation and redefine the bank-customer experience.”

The agreement will be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2006 and run through Dec. 31, 2011.

About Visa USA

Visa USA is the nation's leading payment brand and largest payment system, enabling banks to provide their consumers and business customers with a wide variety of payment alternatives tailored to meet their evolving needs. Visa USA is committed to increasing the choice, convenience, acceptance and security of Visa payments for all stakeholders in the payment system - members, cardholders and merchants. Through its 13,432 member financial institutions, more than 510 million Visa-branded cards have been issued to cardholders in the United States. Last year, U.S.-based financial institutions relied on Visa's processing system, VisaNet, to facilitate $1.6 trillion in transactions with unparalleled reliability.

Worldwide, cardholders in more than 150 countries carry more than 1 billion Visa-branded cards, accounting for more than $3 trillion in annual transaction volume. Visa offers a trusted, reliable and convenient way to access and mobilize financial resources - anytime, anywhere, anyway.

About Bank of America

Bank of America (www.bankofamerica.com) is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving more than 54 million consumer and small business relationships with more than 5,700 retail banking offices, nearly 17,000 ATMs and award-winning online banking with more than 19.8 million active users. Bank of America is the No. 1 overall Small Business Administration (SBA) lender in the United States and the No. 1 SBA lender to minority-owned small businesses. The company serves clients in 175 countries and has relationships with 98 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 79 percent of the Global Fortune 500. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.