NEW YORK – Visa USA and MasterCard International could be headed for a shake up as the largest issuer of Visa cards in the world is set to be acquired by the world’s third-largest issuer of MasterCards.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., currently the third-largest issuer of MasterCards and a member of the MasterCard board, said on Wednesday it would buy Bank One Corp., the largest issuer of Visa cards and a Visa board member.
The $58 billion stock deal would create the largest issuer of general purpose credit cards in the United States, according to David Robertson, publisher of The Nilson Report, which tracks the card industry.
“This presents some very interesting challenges to MasterCard and Visa,” said Brian Smith, partner at law firm Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw of Washington, D.C.. “Here you have the second-biggest bank in the United States immediately sitting on both boards.”
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