(by Peter Van Bruggen)

Visa and MasterCard, charged for barring their member banks from issuing credit and charge cards on the rival networks of American Express Co. and Morgan Stanley, on Monday saw slight pause in the case.

The Supreme Court said it let stand two card giants ruling. In 2001, a federal judge ruled the rules were unlawful and ordered Visa and MasterCard to repeal them and to not adopt any similar policy in the future.

Attorneys of MasterCard said “the appeals court ruling will undermine the incentives for vigorous competition that have produced compelling consumer benefits in an industry of fundamental importance to the economy."

Visa’s attorneys described the case as the “extremely broad practical consequences for U.S. companies and consumers. The necessary effect of invalidating Visa’s loyalty rule will not be to lower prices for consumers.”

Two companies argued they did not hurt competition principles by their rules.