More on American Express/MBNA

Purchases on the cards would be routed through American Express, while MBNA would market and manage the cards and own any balances. MBNA said it planned to market the cards to potential customers and to its cardholders. The cardholders would not have access to American Express's full rewards program.The companies did not disclose the financial terms of their deal, but analysts have said for years that dividing the revenue in such a partnership could prove tricky. The companies have been competitors and in many ways remain so. Each is used to receiving almost all of the transaction fees that merchants must pay to accept their cards.