Bank of America Corp. announced Thursday that it would buy MBNA Corp. for about 35 billion US dollars in stock and cash to challenge Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the credit card business.

The second-largest acquisition this year would completely reshape the US credit card industry by eliminating the largest non- bank issuer and place Bank of America above American Express Co.

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America Corp. is the second-largest US bank by assets, but its position was challenged by the merger of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank One Corp. last year. In mid-June, Bank of America invested 3 billion dollars in China Construction Bank, becoming the biggest foreign stakeholder in any Chinese bank.

MBNA Corp. is located in Wilmington, Delaware and began as the credit arm of MNC Financial Inc., a company NationsBank Corp. acquired in 1994. NationsBank changed its name to Bank of America Corp. in 1998.

Source: Xinhua