Fitch Assigns ABS Seller/Servicer Ratings to Metris.NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings An international rating agency for financial institutions, insurance companies, and corporate, sovereign, and municipal debt. Fitch Ratings has headquarters in New York and London and is wholly owned by FIMALAC of Paris. has assigned Direct Merchants Credit Card Bank, N.A. (DMCCB) and its parent, Metris Companies Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :MXT (Memory eXpansion Technology) A memory expansion technique introduced by IBM in 2002 for its Intel-based xSeries servers. Using a hardware compression algorithm, MXT doubles the amount of main memory in the computer. It is also available for licensing to other vendors. ) (collectively, Metris) a combined 'ABPS/S 3-minus' (Full Approval) ABS seller/servicer rating for credit card origination and servicing. The rating reflects Metris' experienced management, and an effective credit policy committee. With these strengths, Fitch views Metris as an acceptable originator and servicer of credit card receivables for Fitch rated ABS transactions. The rating also reflects the corporate rating based on the financial resources of Metris available to complete its turnaround efforts, implement sustained growth and continue efforts to recover from prior credit quality deterioration. Positive operational performance and trends are somewhat offset by Metris' limited financial resources as reflected by the 'B' rating assigned to DCCMB DCCMB Defense Contract Career Management Board by Fitch. Since its incorporation in 1996, Metris has managed a national portfolio of general purpose cards. As of year end 2004, their credit card receivables outstanding amounted to $6.5 billion. Their accounts are predominantly 'mid- to-lower prime' customers. Metris is an active participant of the ABS market, with 34 ABS deals issued since 1996 and a total issue amount of $21.3 billion. Metris currently services 12 Fitch-rated credit card ABS series under its Metris Master Trust program with the total outstanding amount of $4.7 billion. Fitch rates ABS seller/servicers on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 (no '1+') being the highest rating. Within each of these rating levels, Fitch further differentiates ratings by plus (+) and minus (-) as well as the flat rating. For further information about Fitch ABS seller/servicer ratings, refer to the report titled 'ABS Seller/Servicer Rating: Credit Where Credit Is Due,' dated Sept. 14, 2004 and 'ABS Seller/Servicer Rating: Credit Card Addendum addendum n. an addition to a completed written document. Most commonly this is a proposed change or explanation (such as a list of goods to be included) in a contract, or some point that has been subject of negotiation after the contract was originally proposed by ,' dated Dec. 4, 2004, both of which available on the Fitch Ratings web site www.fitchratings.com. Fitch's rating definitions are available on the agency's public web site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies and relevant policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental are also available from this site, at all times. This document will remain on the public site for seven days. |
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