Discover Financial Services, Inc. was an American

financial services Financial services are service (economics), economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of tertiary sector of the economy, service sector activities, especially as concerns finan ...

company best known for its

Discover Card Discover is a credit card brand issued primarily in the United States. It was introduced by Sears in 1985 and currently issued by Capital One. Discover was the first credit card that did not charge an annual fee and offered a higher-than-norm ...

. Founded in 1985, the company offered a wide range of banking and payment services, including checking and

savings account A savings account is a bank account at a retail banking, retail bank. Common features include a limited number of withdrawals, a lack of cheque and linked debit card facilities, limited transfer options and the inability to be overdrawn. Traditi ...

s, personal loans,

home equity loan A home equity loan is a type of loan in which the borrowers use the equity of their home as collateral. The loan amount is determined by the value of the property, and the value of the property is determined by an appraiser from the lending in ...

s, and credit cards. It owned and operated the Discover and

Pulse In medicine, the pulse refers to the rhythmic pulsations (expansion and contraction) of an artery in response to the cardiac cycle (heartbeat). The pulse may be felt ( palpated) in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surfac ...

networks, and owned Diners Club International.

is the third largest credit card brand in the United States, when measured by cards in force, with nearly 50 million cardholders. Discover was acquired by

Capital One Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company founded on July 21, 1994, and specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, headquartered in Tysons, Virginia, with operations primarily in the ...

on May 18, 2025. As the result of the acquisition, all Discover Financial brands would offered as the Capital One brands and services.

History

In 1981,

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

purchased the Dean Witter Reynolds brokerage firm organization and Coldwell, Banker & Company (real estate franchise) as an attempt to add financial services to its portfolio of customer services. In 1985, Sears also acquired the Greenwood Trust Company. Altogether, these companies operated as a

subsidiary called Dean Witter Financial Services Group, Inc. The plan to create a one-stop financial-services center in Sears stores was not as successful as Sears had hoped. Its credit card operations accounted for a loss of $22 million in the fourth quarter of 1986 (equivalent to $ million in ), and a loss of $25.8 million in the first quarter of 1987 (equivalent to $ million in ). In March 1993, Sears sold off its financial services branch as a new independent publicly traded company called Dean Witter, Discover & Co. with Dean Witter Reynolds in charge. This company had a stock ticker symbol of ''DWD''. In 1995, Discover Card Services, Inc. changed its name to NOVUS Services, Inc. to distinguish its network functions from the

. In 1997, this company merged with investment banking house

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees, the firm's clients in ...

to become Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Discover & Co. Olddiscover

In February 1999, the company rebranded itself "Discover Financial Services, Inc." The NOVUS logo was retired, replaced by the Discover Network logo. In April 2005,

announced that it would divest Discover Financial Services as an independent company within six months. By June, industry sources reported that Morgan Stanley was reassessing its plan to spin off Discover. In August, the company confirmed it would not sell Discover. However, in December 2006, during a fourth quarter earnings report, Morgan Stanley CEO John J. Mack announced Discover would be spun off as a standalone publicly traded company by the end of August 2007, stating that both companies will be better positioned for growth and success as separate entities. Ahead of schedule in June 2007, Discover was spun off as an independent, publicly traded company. It began trading on the NYSE for the first time in July 2007 under the stock symbol ''DFS''. In February 2024,

announced its intention to acquire Discover in an all-stock deal worth $35.3 billion. That Spring, the

Attorney General of New York The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and head of the Department of Law of the government of New York (state), state government. The office has existed in various forms since ...

launched an investigation into whether the proposed takeover of Discover would violate state anti-trust laws. In July 2024, a proposed consumer

class action A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio * Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 e ...

lawsuit was filed in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, claiming that the acquisition would be in violation of federal antitrust laws. The deal was approved by U.S. banking regulators in April 2025. On May 18, 2025, the merger between Discover and Capital One was completed.

Acquisitions

Acquisition of The Greenwood Trust Company

The Greenwood Trust Company was founded on August 30, 1911, and was based in Greenwood, Delaware. It was acquired in 1985 and renamed Discover Bank on August 1, 2000. Discover Bank is mainly an online financial institution that offers many financial services such as checking accounts, savings accounts, and money market accounts. However the first and original location of the Greenwood Trust Company on 502 East Market Street is still operating and is the only physical banking location of Discover Bank. Discover Bank operates as a subsidiary of Discover Financial Services and is FDIC insured.

Acquisition of Pulse

In 2005, Discover Financial Services acquired

, an interbank

electronic funds transfer Electronic funds transfer (EFT) is the transfer of money from one bank account to another, either within a single financial institution or across multiple institutions, via computer-based systems. The funds transfer process generally consists ...

payments network. This allowed Pulse and its more than 4,000 member banks, credit unions, and savings institutions to join with the Discover Network's four million merchant and cash access locations. Additionally DFS now had the ability to market and issue debit and ATM cards. In February 2006, DFS announced that it would begin offering Discover

debit card A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card, is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The card usually consists of the bank's name, a card number, the cardholder's name, and an expiration date, on either ...

s to other financial institutions, becoming the first credit card services company to compete directly with MasterCard and Visa in the rapidly growing signature debit market.

Acquisition of Diners Club International

In April 2008, Discover Financial and

Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, t ...

announced that Discover was purchasing the Diners Club International network from Citigroup for $165 million. In May 2008, the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

approved the transaction and it was finalized in July 2008. Discover stated that the Diners Club network, which is a major network outside the United States, will be merged with the Discover Network, a major network in the United States. The creation of an international network for Discover and Diners Club cardholders allowed customers to expand their global reach. Diners Club cards will continue to be issued by Diners Club International licensees. At this time, Discover Bank has no plans on issuing Diners Club branded cards itself.

Acquisition of Student Loan Corporation

In September 2010, Discover Financial Services announced it would acquire Citigroup-owned Student Loan Corporation for $30/share. The deal was finalized in December 2010, renamed Discover Student Loans, and expanded DFS's market presence and origination capabilities in private student loans. In 2014, DFS launched Rewards for Good Grades, rewarding college and graduate students who get at least a 3.0 GPA (or equivalent) a one-time cash reward equal to 1% of the loan amount on each new Discover student loan. In 2015, DFS introduced an interactive tool called FAFSA Assistant to help students and their families get ready to complete the FAFSA. The tool provides individualized tips and guidance based on personal situations.

Acquisition of Home Loan Center

In June 2012, Tree.com, Inc. completed the sale of substantially all of the operating assets of its Home Loan Center, Inc. business to a wholly owned subsidiary of Discover Financial. In exchange for the assets sold, Discover paid an aggregate of $45.9 million including payments made prior to the closing which were applied to the closing price. In June 2012, Discover began originating mortgages with its launch of Discover Home Loans, offering prime variable- and fixed-rate conventional and FHA home mortgage loans. In 2013, Discover's Home Loans business started offering home equity loans. As of 2023, the only home loans Discover originates are home equity loans and mortgage refinances.

Business developments

In 1989, Discover Network signs its one-millionth merchant, ''Vincente's Restaurant'', in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1995, the discovercard.com website was launched. In December 1998, the company introduced ''Discover Platinum'', a premium card featuring new ways to increase rewards, low balance transfer and annual percentage rates, no annual fee, and expanded credit lines. In December 2001, fourth-quarter income at Discover grew 31% to $193 million, compared with $147 million the year before. In 2002, Discover launched the industry's first keychain credit card. It was named the ''Discover 2GO'' card and was recognized as one of the "Best Products of 2002" by editors and reporters from Business Week and USA Today. In March 2002, the company announced that the Account Center at Discovercard.com had registered over eight million card members, an increase of 61% since January 2001. In September 2002, Discover announced that Citibank would accept the Discover Card for cash advances at its approximately 450 Financial Centers and more than 2,000 ATM locations nationwide. In 2003, Discover introduced gas and miles rewards cards. The ''Gasoline Card'' (renamed ''Open Road'' in 2007) awarded 5% Cashback Bonus on gas purchases. The ''Miles Card by Discover'' allowed redemption with as little as 2,500 miles for non-flight reward options. Discover also introduced the option for paperless statements. In October 2004, the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

upheld a ruling in Discover's favor that challenged exclusionary policies of Visa and MasterCard, stating that Mastercard and Visa were violating antitrust regulations with anticompetitive practices. Before this ruling, Visa and MasterCard would not allow banks to issue a Discover or American Express card if they issued a Visa or MasterCard. Within days of the court ruling, Discover filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking damages from Visa and MasterCard. In October 2008, DFS was awarded $2.75 billion in damages, the third largest settlement at the time in U.S. history. Shortly after the

ruling, Discover struck its first deal to have its cards issued by another financial institution, GE Consumer Finance, which began to issue credit cards for retailer

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

and its wholesale warehouse stores,

Sam's Club Sam's West, Inc. (doing business as Sam's Club) is a chain of membership-only warehouse club retail stores in the United States owned by Walmart. It was founded in 1983 and named after Walmart founder Sam Walton as Sam's Wholesale Club. , Sam's ...

. Transactions were processed on the Discover Network. Sam's Club exclusively accepted Discover for many years; since November 2006, it has also accepted MasterCard for purchases. In April 2014, Walmart announced that they were ending their relationship with Discover and would begin converting all Discover-branded cards to Mastercard beginning in June 2014.

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

has issued Discover-branded credit cards processed through the Discover Network since its acquisition of card issuer Metris in late 2005. Metris had originally signed an agreement with Discover in September 2005, three months prior to the HSBC acquisition. In 2006, Discover Network united with Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and JCB to form the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council, which helps to manage account security throughout the transaction process. Also in 2006, DFS also launched the ''Discover Business Card'', offering a single payment solution for small business owners. In July 2006, DFS and First Data Corp. announced that First Data would offer Discover Network card services to small- and mid-sized merchants. In March 2007, Discover Financial Services announced the ''Discover Motiva'' card, a card that offers cash rewards for making six on-time monthly payments in a row. The card was the industry's first credit card to give cash rewards for good credit management. Later in the year, DFS announced the ''Discover More'' card to replace the ''Discover Platinum'' card. The Discover More card was designed for consumers who use credit in many different categories and provided them with more ways to earn cash back on their purchases. Following the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

, Discover received about $1.2 billion in bailout funds under the

Troubled Asset Relief Program The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is a program of the United States government to purchase toxic assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector that was passed by Congress and signed into law by U.S. Presi ...

(TARP). The company announced in 2010 that it had received approval to pay back the funds. In 2009, Discover Financial Services introduced the ''Spend Analyzer'' tool, an online tool that provides cardmembers with a visual representation of their Discover card purchases for the past 24 months. In 2010, Discover Financial Services and Softcard announced a strategic partnership to build a mobile payment network that utilizes mobile phones to make point-of-sale purchases. In September 2012, Discover Financial Services was ordered to pay over $200 million in fines and customer reimbursements to settle accusations by U.S. federal regulators that it had engaged in deceptive telemarketing tactics. In 2012, Discover Financial Services announced a five year, $10 million commitment called ''Pathway to Financial Success'' to help bring financial education curriculum to public high schools across the US. In 2013, Discover Financial Services and PayPal partnered to enable merchants to accept PayPal through their existing relationship with Discover. The same year, Discover Cashback Checking was introduced. The checking account product paid customers ten cents for every debit card purchase, online bill payment, and check written. Additionally, the ''Discover it'' card was announced. The card rewards cardmembers with 5% cash back in rotating categories each quarter, such as at gas stations or restaurants. Discover also introduced ''Discover Home Equity Loans''. Discover also became the first major credit card issuer to provide free access to FICO Credit Scores based on TransUnion data directly to its cardmembers on their monthly statements. Additional information provided with their FICO Credit Scores were educational content to help them better understand their scores. In 2014, Discover Financial Services launched ''Discover it Chrome'' for Students, allowing students to establish credit while earning 2% at gas stations and restaurants. In 2015, Discover Financial Services launched ''Discover it Miles'', which rewards 1.5 miles per dollar spent. In 2016, Discover Financial Services launched ''Discover it Secured'' for consumers looking to build their credit. Additionally, DFS expanded FICO Credit Scores based on TransUnion data for free to everyone via a platform called ''Credit Scorecard'', which also included a summary of the data that helps determine an individual's FICO Credit Score. In 2017, Discover Financial Services launched a free service called ''Discover Identity Alerts'' to notify cardmembers if their social security numbers are found on risky websites and if any new accounts are opened on their Experian credit report. In 2018, Discover Financial Services announced a change to its checking account rewards program, a reward of 1% cash back on up to $3,000 in qualifying debit card purchases each month. Additionally DFS also introduced ''First Fee Forgiveness'', a new program that automatically waives the first eligible fee each calendar year for certain Discover accounts. Eligible fees included insufficient funds, stop payment, excessive withdrawal and Money Market minimum balance fees. For its US-based employees, DFS launched the ''Discover College Commitment'', offering employees a full ride bachelor's degree program covering tuition, required fees, books, and supplies for select online degree programs. In September, DFS launched the ''Discover it Business'' card, offering unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases, as well as free business and security features. In 2019, Discover Financial Services' subsidiary Discover Bank eliminated most fees on its deposit products. Additionally, Discover Home Equity Loans surpassed $1 billion in funded loans. DFS also launched contactless cards this year. In 2021, Discover Bank originated 14,148 mortgages worth $1.3 billion. In February 2024,

announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Discover Financial in a $35.3 billion all-stock deal. In April 2025, Capital One Financial’s application to acquire Discover Financial was approved by the

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

and the

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is an independent bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury that was established by the National Currency Act of 1863 and serves to corporate charter, charter, bank regulation ...

. In May 2025, it was reported Discover Financial would be removed from the S&P 500, being replaced by Coinbase from May 19.

Discover Global Network

Discover Financial Services has three payment systems that constitute its Discover Global Network: Discover Network, Diners Club International, and

. Since 2005, to increase acceptance of its payment cards around the world, Discover formed several agreements with other payment networks internationally. This allows Discover cardholders to perform transactions while traveling abroad, and cardholders of other countries may utilize their cards at US merchants and financial institutions that accept Discover. Some major credit and debit partners include: * Diners Club International worldwide * BC Card in South Korea * JCB in Japan * UnionPay in China * DinaCard in Serbia * Elo in Brazil *Mercury in the United Arab Emirates * RuPay in India *

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

in Turkey * Verve in Nigeria Some major debit partners include: *AFS in the Middle East and North Africa region *Areeba in Lebanon * ATH in Puerto Rico *Bcard in Bulgaria *Cabal in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil * Dutch-Bangla Bank in Bangladesh *Eazy in Bahrain *

Interac Interac is a Canadian interbank network that links financial institutions and other enterprises for the purpose of exchanging electronic financial transactions. Interac serves as the Canadian debit card system and the predominant funds transf ...

in Canada *Jonet in Jordan *NAPAS in Vietnam *NCCC in Taiwan * PayNet in Malaysia *Prosa in Mexico * Saudi Payments in Saudi Arabia *SIBS with 10 countries in Europe and Africa With these and many other global partnerships, Discover is accepted in 200+ countries and territories.

Advertising

From 1998 to 2007, Discover Card owned a billboard at

One Times Square One Times Square (also known as 1475 Broadway, the New York Times Building, the New York Times Tower, the Allied Chemical Tower or simply as the Times Tower) is a 25-story, skyscraper on Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of ...

, just above the flagpole where the Times Square Ball is placed, until

Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...

bought the space. As a result, its logo could be seen on national television during

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

, while the ball dropped. Discover also sponsored the ball drop itself. From its opening in 2001 to 2012, Sugarloaf Mills Mall in

Lawrenceville, Georgia Lawrenceville is a city in and the county seat of Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. It is a suburb of Atlanta, located approximately northeast of downtown. It was incorporated on December 15, 1821. As of the 2020 census, the populatio ...

, was named ''Discover Mills'' in a

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...

partnership with Discover Card. The slogan for the mall was "Where Discover Card is the Smart Choice." It was the first shopping mall to have granted naming rights to interested companies. Since 2008, Discover has been the official credit-card partner of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

. As part of this deal, Discover offers team- and league-branded credit cards as well as a 10% discount on purchases made from the NHL's online store using Discover. In 2011 and 2012, Discover participated in and won the Grand Marshal award for excellence in creative concept and design in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena. From 2011 to 2013, Discover was the sponsor of the college football

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

. In 2013, Discover was the sponsor of the BCS National Championship. In 2017, Discover was named the first ever presenting sponsor and official credit card of the Big Ten Football Championship Game as part of a multi-year sponsorship.

Business

In addition to its card products, Discover Financial Services also markets savings products,

checking accounts A transaction account (also called a checking account, cheque account, chequing account, current account, demand deposit account, or share account at credit unions) is a deposit account or bank account held at a bank or other financial instituti ...

personal loan In finance, unsecured debt refers to any type of debt or general obligation that is not protected by a guarantor, or collateralized by a lien on specific assets of the borrower in the case of a bankruptcy or liquidation or failure to meet the te ...

student loans A student loan is a type of loan designed to help students pay for post-secondary education and the associated fees, such as tuition, books and supplies, and living expenses. It may differ from other types of loans in the fact that the interest ...

, identity protection, and

Competitors

In the United States, Discover, as a card network, competes primarily with Visa, MasterCard, and

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

. Unlike Visa and MasterCard, Discover directly issues its cards as both the card network and associated bank, through its Discover Bank unit. When measured by card balances, Discover is the sixth largest credit card issuer in the U.S. behind

JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylized as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational financial services, finance corporation headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It is List of largest banks in the United States, the largest ba ...

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...

and

, and ahead of

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...

and U.S. Bank."Q1 2016: U.S. Credit Card Issuer Snapshot"
. Retrieved November 28, 2016.

References

External links

Discover Financial Services official corporate site

Discover all services official site

Discover Network official merchant, acquirer, and issuer services site
{{authority control Capital One 1985 establishments in Illinois 2025 disestablishments in Illinois American companies established in 1985 American companies disestablished in 2025 Companies based in Lake County, Illinois Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Corporate spin-offs Credit card issuer associations Financial services companies established in 1985 Financial services companies of the United States Online banks Riverwoods, Illinois 2025 mergers and acquisitions