Discover: Discover Card Credit Cards, Business Cards, Identity Theft Prevention

Discover

www.discover.com
NYSE: DFS
(Finance: Credit Services)

Discover Financial Services was founded in 1985 when it was first introduced by Sears. Currently headquartered in Riverwoods, Illinois, Discover primarily provides credit cards to consumers and businesses. Discover is said to be the third largest credit card provider in the United States, with approximately 50 million cardholders.

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Services
Personal Credit Cards, Business Credit Cards, Gift Cards, Student Loans, Savings, Identity Theft Protection, Insurance

Overview
Discover is best known for the “Discover Card” a credit card that is mainly issued to consumers and small businesses. In addition to credit cards, Discover offers student loans, savings plans, identity theft protection, and insurance quotes.

Discover cards range in rewards, from the Motiva Card with two months interest back each year with a 3.99 percent introductory annual percentage rate on balance transfers, to the Student Open Road Card that offers double cash-back bonus on the first $250 charged, there is likely a card that meets your wants. Likewise, there are several different business credit cards that Discover has to choose from, such as cash-back reward cards and travel miles reward cards.

Discover offers Federal Stafford Loans, Federal PLUS Loans, and Certified Private Loans for students. Student loans come with online account management assistance and customer service seven days a week. Plus there is a 2 percent graduation reward on certified private loans and 0.25 percent auto debit rewards.

Discover is committed to helping consumers at protecting their credit through identity theft protection services. In addition, customers have access to payment protection, that can freeze card payments for up to two years, wallet protection on all cards, and credit score tracker allow customers to monitor their credit scores.

Discover Financial Services has issued more than 25 million Discover-brand credit cards to its members. Cards issued by Discover include individual consumer cards and multiple levels of business cards, all of which repay the cardholder a percentage of the purchase price each time it is used. Discover Financial is also in the banking business and operates ATM system company PULSE Network.

In effort to be eligible for funds made available through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), Discover Financial converted to a bank holding company. In 2009, the company received $1.2 billion from the government sponsored program and has since agreed to repay the money.

In 2008 Discover Financial was working on expanding its banking operations and from the company’s 2008 to 2009 fiscal year they doubled their portfolio of student loans and consumer installment loans. During the same time, Discover Bank deposits, including CDs, money market accounts, IRAs, and savings, also more than doubled.

In regards to credit card, Discover Financial has worked to greatly increase the amount of partnerships with their customers, including major retailers and restaurant chains. Discover Financial charge-off rates are below the industry standard, however, and in part due to the new credit card rules under the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act (CARD Act), the company has increased its annual percentage rates and automatically changed many fixed rate accounts over to adjustable rate accounts.

International efforts have Discover Financial expanding its business to many oversea nations, including reciprocity relationships in Japan with JCB, South Korea with Beyond Card, and China with UnionPay that are designed to increase the acceptance and use of Discover but also improve global payment acceptance for cardholders who may be visiting those countries.

In 2008 Discover Financial purchased Diners Club International, a credit card company with card acceptance in over 180 countries, from Citigroup for $165 million. In 2010 Discover Financial further expanded its international influence when Global Payments agreed to begin accepting both Discover cards and Diners Club cards, including the UK, Western Europe, India, and the Pacific Rim.

A $2.75 billion antitrust lawsuit was settled in 2008 after Discover claimed that arch rivals Visa and MasterCard illegally prevented their member financial organizations from issuing Discover cards.

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