Minnetonka, Minnesota and Riverwoods, Illinois
– September 19, 2005 – Metris Companies Inc. (NYSE:MXT)
and Discover Financial Services LLC, a business
unit of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MWD), announced today
that they have signed a definitive agreement under
which Metris will launch a new credit card on
the Discover
® Network.
Metris
is the 11th-largest bankcard issuer in the U.S.
and another major card issuer to begin issuing
credit cards on the Discover Network in the past
year. The card will be issued by Metris subsidiary
Direct Merchants Credit Card Bank, N.A. It is
anticipated that the card will be available to
customers by the end of 2005.
“We are
excited about this partnership and believe this
new credit card offering on the Discover Network
will resonate with our middle-market prospect
universe,” said Matt Melius, executive vice president
of Metris and president of Direct Merchants Bank.
“We believe this kind of brand diversification
is another positive step toward fulfilling our
company's growth plans.”
“Metris is a
prominent provider of consumer credit to consumers
in the U.S. and we are pleased to partner with
them,” said Harit Talwar, executive vice president
of Discover Financial Services LLC. “This agreement
is an important step forward in Discover Network's
strategy of supporting multiple issuers and products
while bringing choice and value to merchants,
issuers and consumers.”
About
Metris Companies Inc. Metris Companies
Inc., based in Minnetonka, Minn., is one of the
largest bankcard issuers in the United States.
The company offers credit cards, credit protection
and insurance products to consumers nationwide.
Metris issues credit cards through Direct Merchants
Credit Card Bank, N.A., a wholly owned subsidiary
in Phoenix, Ariz. For more information, visit
www.metriscompanies.com
or
www.directmerchantsbank.com.
About Discover Financial Services
Discover Financial Services LLC, a business
unit of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MWD), operates the
Discover Card with more than 50 million Cardmembers,
the Discover Network with more than 4 million
merchant and cash access locations and the PULSE
ATM/Debit network currently serving over 4,100
banks, credit unions and savings institutions.
For more information, visit
www.discovercard.com,
www.discovernetwork.com
or
www.pulse-eft.com.
# # #
Metris Companies Forward-Looking
Statement
Certain information discussed in
this press release may constitute forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the federal securities
law. Forward-looking statements are based on certain
assumptions by management and are subject to risks,
trends and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those in the
forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to, risks associated
with Direct Merchants Bank's ability to comply
with its agreements with regulators regarding
the safety and soundness of its operations; the
effect of government policy and regulation, whether
of general applicability or specific to us, including
restrictions and/or limitations relating to our
minimum capital requirements, reserving methodologies,
dividend policies and payments, growth, and/or
underwriting criteria; the effects of litigation
involving us and of the previously announced SEC
investigation; the higher delinquency rate, credit
loss rate, charge-off rate and bankruptcy rate
of our target market of middle-market consumers;
our high liquidity requirement; interest rate
risks; competition; dependence on the securitization
markets and other funding sources to fund our
business; the effect of the restatement of our
financial statements; the effect of changes in
the credit card market as the result of recent
judicial decisions with respect to MasterCard
and Visa; and general economic conditions that
can have a negative impact on our financial performance.
For further information on risks that
could impact us and statements in this press release,
please refer to our filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, including our current
reports on Form 8-K, quarterly reports on Form
10-Q and annual reports on Form 10-K.
CONTACT:
Jeff Grosklags
Metris Companies
Inc.
952-525-5074
Jennifer Kang-Born
Discover Financial Services
224-405-2347