The US retail bank Bank of America is contemplating launching its own credit card brand and network to rival the incumbent giants, news reports from the US are suggesting.
The North Carolina-headquartered lender, which can boast the largest retail customer pool in the US, is believed to be pondering establishing an in-house branded credit card operation that will not follow the convention of partnering with either MasterCard or Visa but will in fact will compete with the payments network titans.
According to press reports, the move could gain Bank of America an additional $70 to $75 million in earnings per year.
The bank has refused to comment on the speculation. However, such a development would seem to be a logical next step following Bank of America’s acquisition of major international card issuer MBNA at the start of this year.