SAN FRANCISCO — Visa USA and American Express have settled their long-standing legal dispute over anti-trust allegations. Under the terms of the agreement that Visa announced American Express would receive $1.12 billion from Visa USA and the banks that were also named in the suit. The money would not come from Visa however, but from the proceeds of the company's initial public offering of stock, which would otherwise belong to the member financial institutions that issue Visa cards.

"The settlement will ultimately be funded by members of Visa USA–not Visa Inc.–through the company's retrospective responsibility plan, a series of agreements with U.S. financial institutions to fund financial obligations of certain litigation, including this case," the card brand said in the announcement.

Details of the "responsibility plan" were discussed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but company spokesmen declined to discuss the details further, citing SEC rules.