Should Capital One be allowed to swallow Discover?

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

I haven't seen anything to indicate either is in trouble.

 

[BoomerD]

I’m never thrilled at seeing one big banking conglomerate absorb another…that’s how we ended up with “too big to fail” during the 2008 crash.

 

[manly]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Discover is the only large U.S. financial institution with all U.S. based phone support. I've been a cardholder since the turn of the century and have gotten a decent amount of cashback over the years.

Unfortunately they had some "irregularities" last year, which prompted a new CEO and now selling out to Capital One. Historically, CapOne had lower lending standards so their consumer credit portfolio would experience higher defaults than the competition. Besides the fact that mega mergers are rarely ever good for consumers, you can bet that CapOne will find some way to screw over consumers.

 

[esquared]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Discover is the only large U.S. financial institution with all U.S. based phone support. I've been a cardholder since the turn of the century and have gotten a decent amount of cashback over the years.

Unfortunately they had some "irregularities" last year, which prompted a new CEO and now selling out to Capital One. Historically, CapOne had lower lending standards so their consumer credit portfolio would experience higher defaults than the competition. Besides the fact that mega mergers are rarely ever good for consumers, you can bet that CapOne will find some way to screw over consumers.

I agree. I have been a cardholder for nearly 30 years and have always been happy with their service.
Their free FICO scores have always been a plus.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Shocked Discover is still a thing.

 

[KMFJD]

mergers are almost always bad for workers

 

[BoomerD]

mergers are almost always bad for workers and consumers.

Ftfy

 

[Stiff Clamp]

Sure. Capitol One's been a good boy. He deserves it.

 

[esquared]

Visa credit: 52%, $2.84 trillion. Mastercard credit: 24%, $1.32 trillion. American Express credit: 20%, $1.08 trillion. Discover credit: 4%, $211 billion.

Also they say Discover is accepted at 99% of retailers that accept CCs.

From this link:

Average credit and debit card transaction values​

The average credit card transaction in 2021 was $96, while the average debit card transaction was $43, according to the Federal Reserve.

That aligns with numbers from The Nilson Report, which found that the average credit card transaction in 2022 was $99 and the average debit card transaction was $49.

Here's how the average credit card transaction value breaks down by network:

• America Express: $150
• Mastercard: $94
• Visa: $91
• Discover: $58

Credit card market share by number of cardholders​

133 million Americans -- 52% of American adults -- have a Visa credit card, according to the Nilson Report.

110 million -- 43% of American adults -- have a Mastercard credit card.

Discover and American Express lag behind. 49 million Americans -- 19% of American adults -- have a Discover credit card while 44 million -- 17% of American adults -- have an American Express credit card.

Credit card market share by cards in circulation​

There were 827 million general purpose credit cards in circulation in the United States at the end of 2022, up 11% from 2021. Here's how they break down by network.

• Visa: 385 million
• Mastercard: 309 million
• Discover: 75 million
• American Express: 62 million