 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Genre | Credit card |
| Founded | 1985 |
| Founder | Sears |
| Headquarters | United States |
Area served | United States (primary) |
| Products | Credit card, Finance, Payment Loans |
| Services | |
 US$3.6 billion (2016) | |
| US$2.393 billion (2016) | |
| Total assets | |
Number of employees | See Parent company |
| Parent | Dean Witter Reynolds (1985–1997) Morgan Stanley (1997–2007) Discover Financial (2007–present) |
| Divisions | Discover Bank |
| Website | discover.com/credit-cards |
Discover is a credit card brand issued primarily in the United States. It was introduced by Sears in 1985. When launched, Discover did not charge an annual fee and offered a higher-than-normal credit limit. A subsequent innovation was "Cashback Bonus" on purchases.[1]
Most cards with the Discover brand are issued by Discover Bank, formerly the Greenwood Trust Company. Discover transactions are processed through the Discover Network payment network. In 2005, Discover Financial Services acquired Pulse, an electronic funds transfer network, allowing it to market and issue debit and ATM cards. In February 2006, Discover Financial Services announced that it would begin offering Discover debit cards to other financial institutions, made possible by the acquisition of Pulse.[2]
Discover is the third largest credit card brand in the U.S., with 60.6 million cardholders or about 8% of cards in circulation, placing it well behind Visa (48%) and Mastercard (36%), but slightly ahead of American Express (7.5%).[3][4]
- ^ Vasquez, Jose. “History of Discover Card”. January 8, 2009. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
- ^ "Merger of Discover Financial Services and Pulse EFT Association closes following Pulse member approval" (Press release). Discover Financial Services. January 12, 2005. Archived from the original on December 8, 2012. Retrieved October 22, 2007.
- ^ Thangavelu, Poonkulali. "Credit Card Market Share Statistics". Bankrate. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
- ^ Khunt, Hitesh. "Top 10 U.S. Credit Card Companies by Purchase Volume". MyCreditCardLab.com. Retrieved March 16, 2024.