FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 26, 2013-- Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: 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.

“We look forward to expanding our partnership with JPMorgan Chase and further driving the migration to electronic payments by offering superior and unique value to merchants and cardholders,” said William Sheedy , Group President, Americas, Visa Inc. “As technology drives the evolution of the payments industry there are more opportunities to deliver value for merchants and cardholders at the point-of-sale. Visa is focused on innovating to allow clients of all sizes to differentiate based on their strategy, priorities and customer needs. This effort with JPMorgan Chase is one example of Visa’s increased flexibility and desire to partner with financial institution and merchant clients to provide greater service to cardholders through tailored and value-added solutions.”

“We are pleased to extend our long-term partnership with Visa,” said Gordon Smith , CEO of Consumer & Community Banking, JPMorgan Chase. “Chase Merchant Services enables us to build direct relationships with merchants and give enhanced benefits, such as targeted offers and discounts to Chase Visa cardholders.”

Chase Merchant Services is expected to be operational by the end of the year.

About Visa

Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world’s most advanced processing networks—VisaNet—that is capable of handling more than 24,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit corporate.visa.com.

Source: Visa Inc.

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