Capital One acquires Discover

[Patri]

Just got a letter from Discover about this today. Those are the only two cards I use. I’m surprised I missed any news about this in recent months. I’ll just keep charging along.

 

[n42]

Capital One cards have no foreign transaction fees and good exchange rates, making them competitive cards for travelling internationally. Unfortunately that's about to change as they transition to the Discover network.

 

[Passepartout]

Capital One cards have no foreign transaction fees and good exchange rates, making them competitive cards for travelling internationally. Unfortunately that's about to change as they transition to the Discover network.

So is Discover acquiring Cap One or vice versa? I Thought that Cap One was acquiring Discover. As a Cap One user, I thought it was a non-event.

 

[Luanne]

So is Discover acquiring Cap One or vice versa? I Thought that Cap One was acquiring Discover. As a Cap One user, I thought it was a non-event.

Capital One acquired Discover.

Discover® is now part of Capital One

This opportunity brings together two mission-driven companies with proven track records of delivering best-in-class products and experiences for consumers.

www.capitalonediscover.com

https://investor.capitalone.com/news-releases/news-release-details/capital-one-completes-acquisition-discover

 

[n42]

So is Discover acquiring Cap One or vice versa? I Thought that Cap One was acquiring Discover. As a Cap One user, I thought it was a non-event.

Capital One acquired Discover, and in doing so, acquired the Discover network. There are four major payment networks: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover.

The whole point of the acquisition was so that they could own the payment network that their cards use.

Capital One will begin transitioning their cards from Visa/Mastercard to the Discover network. They will still be Capital One cards, but they will use the Discover payment network instead of Visa/Mastercard.

Discover network is fine in the US, but has a very small international footprint.

 

[Luanne]

Capital One acquired Discover, and in doing so, acquired the Discover network. There are four major networks: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover.

The whole point of the acquisition was so that they could own the payment network that their cards use.

Capital One will begin transitioning their cards from Visa/Mastercard to the Discover network. They will still be Capital One cards, but they will use Discover instead of Visa/Mastercard.

Discover network is fine in the US, but has a very small international footprint.

Not that I don't believe you, but can you site a source for this information. Everything I've seen on the Capital One website seems to indicate that Visa/Mastercard will still be use. This is from the website and can be found in the links I posted:

Capital One will continue to use VISA and Mastercard,

 

[n42]

Not that I don't believe you, but can you site a source for this information. Everything I've seen on the Capital One website seems to indicate that Visa/Mastercard will still be use. This is from the website and can be found in the links I posted:

Capital One will continue to use VISA and Mastercard,

Sure, I can cite the Capital One CEO, Richard Fairbank:

Fairbank noted that Capital One has been upgrading its technology for over a dozen years and its systems will combine, in time, with Discover’s dedicated credit and debit networks

This is one of the jewels of the deal, in part because it makes its owner exempt from Durbin amendment restrictions on debit interchange pricing. Fairbank means to treat this jewel carefully.

This is all common knowledge to anyone who has been following the deal. Owning the payment network is the whole point of the deal. They aren’t simply acquiring Discover’s portfolio of cards.

 

[n42]

Fairbank told analysts that "we don’t plan to come roaring out of this acquisition on national TV really leaning into the network brand." Instead, the concentration will be on moving the Capital One debit business to the Discover debit network, as well as some of its credit card business. He pointed out that a large portion of Capital One’s existing customer base consists of people who travel internationally.

Then building international acceptance will be a priority, ahead of promoting the brand name in its new setting.

 

[Luanne]

Sure, I can cite the Capital One CEO, Richard Fairbank:



This is all common knowledge to anyone who has been following the deal. Owning the payment network is the whole point of the deal. They aren’t simply acquiring Discover’s portfolio of cards.

Obviously you have been following the deal. I just recently became aware. The information I referred to came from the Capital One website so I assumed it was what was happening.

 

[WinniWoman]

I rarely use capital one credit cards because there’s no cash back deals. I will use Discover if they have good cash back offer going on. I wonder if those offers will be stopped now.

I use AMEX for 6 % back on food and 3% back on gas.

Also use Prime Visa a lot for rewards towards purchases on Amazon and other offers they have on rotating basis.

BJs Mastercard when shopping at BJ’s for gas and divisions.

What I’m wondering is how this merger will affect Discover bank accounts.

 

[CO skier]

Maybe they will bring back a riff on this with some tag line, "Capital One -- what's in your pocket?"

 

[Luanne]

I rarely use capital one credit cards because there’s no cash back deals. I will use Discover if they have good cash back offer going on. I wonder if those offers will be stopped now.

I use AMEX for 6 % back on food and 3% back on gas.

Also use Prime Visa a lot for rewards towards purchases on Amazon and other offers they have on rotating basis.

BJs Mastercard when shopping at BJ’s for gas and divisions.

What I’m wondering is how this merger will affect Discover bank accounts.

I have a very basic Capital One card. No fee. I got it because it also had no foreign transaction fee and at the time the other card I was using did. It does have a cash back option. I use it so seldom that I accumulate very little cash and usually just put it toward my bill.

 

[davidvel]

Hopefully, if there is a god, they will kill off those horrific Discover commercials with the shrill (and shill), Jennifer Coolidge.
.

 

[WinniWoman]

I have a very basic Capital One card. No fee. I got it because it also had no foreign transaction fee and at the time the other card I was using did. It does have a cash back option. I use it so seldom that I accumulate very little cash and usually just put it toward my bill.

My Capital One card has no cash back. I also had gotten it because of no foreign transaction fees at the time, but I’m not really traveling far anymore so ….

Also my Prime ViSA and BJ Mastercard have no foreign transaction fees as well.

Discover bank always had better savings acct rates than Capital One ( which I used to bank with) so I’ll be interested to see what kind of rates Discover Bank will have going forward.

 

[SmithOp]

I have the Quicksilver card, it pays 1.5% cash back on everything. There are several other cards offered with miles or up to 3% on certain purchases. I mostly use the cash back on Amazon purchases since the card is linked.

I originally converted when CapOne bought out ING, it started with that interest savings account, although it pays very little now that it's CapOne.

 

[Patri]

Hopefully, if there is a god, they will kill off those horrific Discover commercials with the shrill (and shill), Jennifer Coolidge.
.

Oh come on. I get a kick out of her. She was so good in Legally Blonde. She needs a little bang in her later acting career.

 

[RX8]

Discover was my very first credit card I ever obtained so it has a little tender spot in my heart. I don’t use it much and when I do, it is only to take advantage of the rotating quarterly promos that give 5% cash back. Some examples are restaurants, warehouse clubs and grocery stores.

 

[callwill]

I can see the new commercials now...
Discover what's in your pocket!

 

[Luanne]

Oh come on. I get a kick out of her. She was so good in Legally Blonde. She needs a little bang in her later acting career.

You didn't see her in White Lotus? That gave her career quite a bang, and several awards as well.

 

[Luanne]

I have the Quicksilver card, it pays 1.5% cash back on everything. There are several other cards offered with miles or up to 3% on certain purchases. I mostly use the cash back on Amazon purchases since the card is linked.

I originally converted when CapOne bought out ING, it started with that interest savings account, although it pays very little now that it's CapOne.

Quicksilver is the card I have as well.

I do now have a United Explorer card through Chase that I use as my primary card and it has no foreign transaction fee. I plan to cancel my Southwest Chase card when it's up for renewal and possibly my Jet Blue card as well. I'll keep the Capital One as a back up card.

 

[Ken555]

I have a Cap One Spark business card that gives me 2% cash back. I switched much of my spending to this card (and an IHG card) after Marriott kept making its program less valuable in 2021. I realized I could get more value from these other cards.

I expect changes in the industry. From what I’ve seen, I don’t think there will be any impact on how I use my cards in the near future. If the bank notifies me about any important changes, I will reevaluate and get another card if necessary.

In short, it’s good to know, but it’s not a big deal.

 

[rickandcindy23]

The Capital One Venture X card is my favorite for car rentals. I get 2X points for everything we buy, then I rent cars with the points.

I have found the car rentals to be lowest on Capital One's travel portal recently, and for that I am well pleased. We wanted the card to stay at the lounge at DEN. If only they would expand the Capital One lounges across the U.S.! The lounge in Denver is impressive. We love the snacks, sandwiches, soda, and comfortable seating. We have so many flight delays out of DEN that we sometimes sit in that lounge for 2-4 hours.

 

[Patri]

You didn't see her in White Lotus? That gave her career quite a bang, and several awards as well.

No. Never heard of it. I’ll look into it. Thanks.

 

[Luanne]

No. Never heard of it. I’ll look into it. Thanks.

You have to like twisty dark comedy/drama. Start with Season One. It was filmed at the Four Seasons Wailea on Maui. I started watching because of the setting and the cast.

 

[n42]

C1's acquisition of Discover is a major milestone in the banking and payment processing world. However, I don't think that it harms competition. It's not like Visa acquired the Discover network. Even Chase's CEO Jamie Dimon supported the acquisition. I think that the government was correct to approve the deal.

Hopefully C1 is able to expand the Discover network internationally and improve competition in the payment processing space.