But the card operation outgrew the bank and was spun off in 1994.

Its long-distance business already knows the biggest users of long-distance service, and its calling card operations can reveal the most frequent travelers.

That decision, he added, sent a message that "they have a stake in the card operations," and helped improve morale.

This spike added about $175 million in credit costs to the bank's North American card operations.

The company's Discover credit card operations contributed income of $48.9 million, compared with $32.3 million last year.

Since most of that additional revenue would flow directly to the card operation's bottom line, Discover's profit could be increased strikingly.

The remaining card operations were sold to JPMorgan Chase in August 2005.

In the last year, he said, his unit seized a fake-identification card operation at a Brooklyn flea market, where the suspect had a printing press.

So it is easy to see why he may have reached out to Bank One, given the significant credit card operations of both banks.

Chemical Bank, which has the largest New York-based credit card operation, had lobbied particularly hard for those provisions.