American Express announced two major bank credit card issuing partnership deals this week: Bank of America and HSBC.

In both deals the removal of each bank from the list of defendants in the litigation American Express is pursuing (re: damages associated with MasterCard and Visa losing the US antitrust case) may have been an important element.

HSBC -- North America Holdings, Inc. and American Express have announced an agreement for HSBC to offer American Express-branded credit cards in the United States. American Express has also announced that it will dismiss HSBC from its antitrust litigation against Visa, MasterCard and a number of major U.S. banks.

Laura Wides-Munoz reports for the Associated Press on increasing focus by US banks on the international remittance market.

Binyamin Appelbaum reports for the Charlotte Observer on a ruling yesterday by the North Carolina banking regulators that payday lender Advance America violated state law by charging excessive interest rates on short-term loans.

Certegy has announced it is acquiring the assets of FastFunds Financial and its wholly owned subsidiary Chex Services for approximately $14 million in cash.

First Data Corp. filed an 8-K with the SEC yesterday disclosing that its board had approved the accelerated vesting of all outstanding unvested stock options granted to its officers and employees under its 2002 Long-Term Incentive Plan.

Josh Gerstein reports for the New York Sun on a $75 million settlement by American Express in a lawsuit regarding cardholder fees when making charges in foreign currencies.

Kara McGuire reports for the Minneapolis - St. Paul StarTribune on Autumn and Nathan Warden and their consumer debt burdens.

Note: Throughout the day, as Payments News happens, this post is updated.

• San Francisco Examiner: Visa USA’s Jon Raj uses media’s entire range
• Tracy Press: Shoppers flock to gift cards