A B.C. Court has concluded that CIBC did not steal the concept for a new credit card from another firm.

ERSS Equity Retirement Savings Systems Corp. had filed suit against CIBC alleging that the bank’s Dividend Visa card was based on an idea provided by the firm in breach of a confidentiality agreement between them.

ERSS came upon the idea of helping consumers save for retirement while spending on day-to-day needs through a card that: each time a member made a purchase from a participating retailer, a percentage of the purchase price would be deposited automatically in a retirement savings account created by Equity and grow tax-free. By 1992, it had developed a business plan and shopped the idea to various financial institutions and retailers, including CIBC.

CIBC declined to participate in the plan. In April, 1998, CIBC launched a credit card called the Dividend Visa which gave customers a cash rebate that could be directed to a retirement savings account or any other account the customer had with the bank.

ERSS then filed suit alleging that the CIBC had misused confidential information by launching a credit card with characteristics substantially the same as the Equity program it came up with. CIBC denied using any confidential information disclosed to it by ERSS.

The court concluded that the CIBC Dividend Visa didn’t copy the confidential elements of the Equity program, and that it did not use any confidential information concerning Equity to develop or market the Dividend Visa.

Madam Justice C.A. Wedge wrote, “I am satisfied that the concept for the Dividend Card was the result of the independent process – a lengthy, painstaking and costly one – undertaken by CIBC with the assistance of NPI, ABM and Padulo. I am also satisfied that CIBC used its own marketing research and marketing approach to launch the card.” The court dismissed the claim of ERSS.