Visa, JP Morgan Confirm Deal for New, Expanded Partnership

Visa Inc. V and JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM announced that the companies have agreed to a letter of intent for a new and expanded 10-year renewable partnership agreement. The partnership is designed to accelerate the growth of electronic payments, deliver added value to merchants and provide a better experience for cardholders. Under terms of the planned deal, JPMorgan Chase will launch Chase Merchant Services, a payments platform powered by Visa that JPMorgan Chase will use to create more differentiated experiences for its merchants and cardholders. The platform will process transactions initiated with JPMorgan Chase-issued Visa cards at merchants that JPMorgan Chase enrolls in Chase Merchant Services. Chase Merchant Services combines the capabilities of JPMorgan Chase's acquiring business, support functions and extensive card portfolio with a customized processing solution that Visa and JPMorgan Chase will create using Visa's network, VisaNet. As part of the agreement, JPMorgan Chase also will shift additional credit and debit card volume to Visa, driving more transactions on the Visa network.