Discover Financial Services, Inc. is an American financial services company, which issues the Discover Card and operates the Discover and Pulse networks. Discover Card is the third largest credit card brand in the United States, when measured by cards in force, with nearly 50 million cardholders.
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| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | NYSE: DFS S&P 500 Component |
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | 1985 as a subsidiary of Sears |
| Headquarters | Riverwoods, Illinois, U.S. |
| Key people | David Nelms (Chairman and CEO) |
| Products | Payment systems |
| Revenue |
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| Operating income |  $ 2.5 billion (FY 2011)[1] |
| Net income | $ 2.2 billion (FY 2011)[1] |
| Total assets | $ 68.7 billion (FY 2011)[1] |
| Total equity | $ 8.2 billion (FY 2011)[1] |
| Website | discover.com |
Discover Financial Services, Inc. is an American financial services company, which issues the Discover Card and operates the Discover and Pulse networks. Discover Card is the third largest credit card brand in the United States, when measured by cards in force, with nearly 50 million cardholders.
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History[edit]
The Discover Card was originally introduced by Sears in 1985, and was a unit of Dean Witter, which merged with Morgan Stanley in 1997. In 2007, the unit was spun off as an independent, publicly traded company. Today, Discover is headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Riverwoods, Illinois.
On December 21, 2001, Fourth quarter income at Discover card issuer Discover Financial Services Inc. grew 31% to $193 million, compared with $147 million a year ago[2].
On March 5, 2002, Discover Financial Services, announced that the Account Center at Discovercard.com had registered over eight million Cardmembers, an increase of 61 percent since January 2001.[3].
On December 17, 2007, Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS ) today announced the launch of its newly redesigned website.Discover.comwill now offer customers a more simplified and informative experience when choosing from various Discover Card products and services. [4].
On September 26, 2002, Discover Financial Services announced that, as of September 1, Citibank was accepting the Discover(R) Card for cash advances at its approximately 450 Financial Centers and more than 2,000 ATM locations nationwide.[5].
Discover acquires Diners Club[edit]
In April 2008, Discover Financial and Citigroup announced that Discover was purchasing the Diners Club network from Citi for $165 million. In May 2008, the Federal Trade Commission approved the transaction. The deal was completed on July 1, 2008.[6] Discover stated that the Diners Club network, which is a major network outside North America, will be merged with the Discover Network, a major network in North America, creating an international network for Discover Network cards and Diners Club cards. Diners Club cards will continue to be issued by Diners Club International licensees. Discover Bank has no plans on issuing Diners Club branded cards itself.
Discover acquires Home Loan Center[edit]
On June 6, 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.[7] On June 12, 2012, Discover began originating mortgages with its launch of Discover Home Loans, offering prime variable- and fixed-rate conventional and FHA home mortgage loans.
Competitors[edit]
In the United States, Discover, as a card brand, competes primarily with Visa, MasterCard, and American Express. Unlike Visa and MasterCard, Discover directly issues its cards, through its Discover Bank unit. Discover is the fourth largest credit card issuer, when measured by card balances, behind Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Citi, and ahead of Capital One and American Express.
Business[edit]
In addition to its card products, Discover also markets savings products, personal loans, student loans, and home mortgage loans. The company also began offering a Discover Debit card product directly to banks in 2006, through its Pulse interbank network, which Discover acquired in 2004.
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e "Discover Financial Services 2011 Annual Report, Form 10-K, Filing Date Jan 26, 2012". secdatabase.com. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
- ^ "DISCOVER'S FOURTH QUARTER NET INCOME GROWS 31%".
- ^ " Discover Card Account Center Launches Online Sweepstakes; Click, Pay and Win With SmartCheck on Discovercard.com".
- ^ "Discover® Card Launches Redesigned Website; Enhanced Website Will Enable Consumers to Have a MoreRelevant and Interactive Experience;".
- ^ "Discover Card Now Accepted for Cash Advances At Citibank; Discover Card Is Now Accepted At All U.S. Citibank Financial Centers and ATMs".
- ^ Miller, James P. (2008-07-01). "Discover completes purchase of Diners Club". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
- ^ "Tree.com Completes Sale of Certain Assets of Home Loan Center, Inc. to Discover".
External links[edit]
- Discover Financial Services official corporate site
- Discover Card official credit card site
- Discover Bank official banking services site
- Discover Network official merchant, acquirer, and issuer services site
- Discover Student Loans official private student loan site
- Discover Home Loans official home mortgage loan site
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