Debit cards included in revised MasterCard, Bank of America pricing agreement

By Jeremy M. Simon

MasterCard reported that operating subsidiary MasterCard International has revised its agreement with Bank of America in regards to certain pricing arrangements for BofA's use of MasterCard services in the U.S. and overseas.

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, MasterCard stated that the agreement was updated "to include new pricing arrangements in exchange for transaction volumes related to the issuance of MasterCard-branded debit cards by Bank of America."

At present, Bank of America issues Visa-branded debit cards, with a spokeswoman for Bank of America noting that the bank currently does not issue MasterCard-branded debit cards.  MasterCard International provides Bank of America with core authorization, clearing, and settlement services.  MasterCard also offers some supplemental user-pay services to Bank of America.

The SEC filing did not make clear whether leading U.S. retail-banking company BofA would begin issuing MasterCard-branded debit cards, and a MasterCard spokeswoman declined to go into detail in regards to the filing.

Published: January 3, 2007

	Three most recent Innovations, features, new products stories: Credit cards and high art: Artists draw inspiration from plastic – Five innovative artists reveal the motivations and messages behind their work -- and how to properly mangle a card for artistic effect ... Rein in your spending with your yearly credit card summary – In the next few weeks, many credit card holders will get a year-end report that can function like a treasure map in helping to find disappearing cash. With it, you can determine where you need financial fine-tuning -- and then you can take action ... Can your social network protect against fraud? – Social network authentication -- it's the latest tool banks and merchants will be using to verify that you are who you really are before they hand over the goods ...

	CreditCards.com's newsletter Did you like this story? Then sign up for CreditCards.com’s weekly e-newsletter for the latest news, advice, articles and tips. It's FREE. Once a week you will receive the top credit card industry news in your inbox. Sign up now!