Another One Bites the Dust

The Wall Street Journal reports today that JP Morgan Chase is dropping arbitration from its credit card agreements to settle an anti-trust suit. The super-sized bank had stopped sending cases to arbitration in July, but had not changed its credit card agreements. If the settlement is approved, JP Morgan would drop its arbitration clause for at least three-and-a-half years, starting in 2010.

The five-year-old suit alleges that JP Morgan, Capitol One, Citigroup, Discover and Bank of America "unlawfully conspired to require their cardholders to arbitrate disputes." According to American Banker ($), the settlement with JP Morgan does not affect the case against the remaining defendants. Although Bank of America reportedly dropped its arbitration provision in August, it is still party to the suit.