CHASE - CREDITCARDS

Chase Announces Credit Card Partnership With optionsXpress

optionsXpress ® Platinum Visa ® Card  cardholders will earn cash deposits to optionsXpress account

WILMINGTON, DE. – Oct. 24, 2006 – Chase Bank USA, N.A., a division of JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), doing business as First USA, today announced that First USA and optionsXpress Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: OXPS) have agreed to a multi-year partnership, under which First USA will issue the optionsXpress Platinum Visa® Card, offering customers the opportunity to earn points toward cash deposits in their optionsXpress accounts.

optionsXpress, headquartered in Chicago, is an award-winning online broker, specializing in equity options trading.  optionsXpress, ranked as the top online securities broker by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance in 2006 and by Barron's in its last four annual surveys (2003 to 2006), offers customers industry-leading proprietary tools for investing education, evaluation and execution. 

With the optionsXpress Platinum Visa card, cardmembers earn rewards points that are eligible to become cash in their brokerage account.  Cardmembers earn one point for every dollar spent on net retail purchases.  For every 1,500 points earned, cardmembers can redeem for a $15 deposit to their optionsXpress brokerage account.  Cardmembers also enjoy a 0% APR introductory offer for up to 12 months and no annual fee. 

optionsXpress customers and prospective customers can apply for and learn more about the optionsXpress Platinum Visa® card by visiting www.optionsxpress.com/visa or calling 1-888-211-9095.

“Chase is excited to have entered this partnership with optionsXpress,” said Hugh Bleemer, executive vice president, Chase Card Services.  “Having received accolades from Barron’s and Kiplinger’s, clearly optionsXpress is exceptional in its business and valued by its customers.  The optionsXpress Platinum Visa is yet another smart financial tool available to customers doing business with optionsXpress.”

“We are pleased to be able to offer our customers another way to get more out of their brokerage account,” said Lou Friedmann, executive vice president, Marketing. “optionsXpress already offers what we believe is the most value of any online broker, and by helping our customers get more value from their everyday purchases, everybody wins.”

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $1.3 trillion and operations in more than 50 countries.  The company has more than 100 million credit cards
issued.  Under the JPMorgan and Chase brands, the firm serves millions of consumers in the United States and Canada and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients.  Information about the firm is available at http://www.jpmorganchase.com/.

About optionsXpress Holdings, Inc.
optionsXpress Holdings, Inc. provides innovative securities brokerage products and services for investor education, strategy evaluation and trade execution. Through its subsidiaries optionsXpress, Inc., an online brokerage, and brokersXpress, LLC, an online broker dealer for investment representatives and advisors, the company offers a wide range of investor tools, outstanding customer service via Live Help chat service and competitive commissions.  optionsXpress has been named the top online securities brokerage by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance (2006) and by Barron's in its last four annual surveys (2003 to 2006).

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