Bank of America Corp. plans to sell its $8.6 billion credit card business in Canada to TD Bank Group and will exit its credit card businesses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, The Associated Press reports.
The moves are part of a broader shift by Bank of America out of its international credit card businesses. On Aug. 3, the bank agreed to sell its card business in Spain to Apollo Capital Management Inc. Bank of America also recently sold its U.K. business lending portfolio, and is exiting the depository institution affinity credit card business with the recent sales of the Regions and Sovereign credit card portfolios.
The sale of Bank of America’s card business in Canada transfers an $8.6 portfolio to Toronto-based TD Bank Group as well as certain other assets and liabilities.
TD Bank said in a news release that it will pay “a modest premium” on the portfolio, which goes by the name MBNA Canada. Bank of America added millions of names to its customer ledger when it acquired credit card issuer MBNA Corp. in 2006.
TD Bank said the deal will add 1.8 million active accounts to its existing 4 million. MBNA Canada is the country’s largest MasterCard issuer.
