Capital One to buy Discover

[QuarterMillionMan]

On CNBC today.

[disneysteve]

Wow. That’s a big one. I wonder if Discover will cease to exist and get switched into the Visa or Mastercard universe.

[ua_guy]

There goes the neighborhood. I remember when Discover used to be a somewhat rare and very upscale card.

[myrdale]

That's interesting, I wonder how that will affect people's credit scores?

If you have a Discover card that is 20 years old, does that same account remain active, or will your account be closed / switched to a Capital One account?

[srblanco7]

There goes the neighborhood. I remember when Discover used to be a somewhat rare and very upscale card.

Interesting. Never thought of Discover as an “upscale” card. Not sure why. I’d have pegged Amex as the “upscale” card.

[disneysteve]

Interesting. Never thought of Discover as an “upscale” card. Not sure why. I’d have pegged Amex as the “upscale” card.

Agreed. Discover was never upscale. In fact, it was often the first card college kids qualified for after getting rejected for a Visa or Mastercard.

And it used to be a pain in the early years because many merchants didn't accept it.

[kork13]

I saw that CapOne stated plans to retain the Discover brand, and presumably most of the credit card options. This purchase is mostly about getting access to Discover's payment network. To date, CapOne has used (I'm sure at no small expense) the Visa payment processing network. Seems that they're tired of that, and want to buy/control their own payments processing.

I'm not sure that regulators will even allow this deal to go through. I'd call it a 50/50. The combined company wouldn't overshadow Visa or MasterCard, but they both also have direct consumer & business banking/lending arms, which complicate the picture. All of the mergers lately are viewed very critically, and are almost assumed to be anti-competitive.

[ua_guy]

Agreed. Discover was never upscale. In fact, it was often the first card college kids qualified for after getting rejected for a Visa or Mastercard.

And it used to be a pain in the early years because many merchants didn't accept it.

It used to be that Discover targeted people with excellent credit and offered higher credit limits, no fees, and offered unique travel benefits. They were also early with the cash back incentive. Discover and everyone else is into student cards, either secured, or with a cosigner.

Cap One has long dealt in more subprime markets and branded cards.

[bjl584]

I've never had a Discover card. I do have a Capital One card, but I hardly ever use it.
So, minimal impact for me.
I don't have stock in either company either.

[disneysteve]

I've never had a Discover card. I do have a Capital One card, but I hardly ever use it.
So, minimal impact for me.
I don't have stock in either company either.

We each have a Discover card. My mom has one also and has a Discover money market account.

[disneysteve]

I hope they don’t mess with the 5% cash back from Discover. That’s the primary reason we use it.

[myrdale]

Agreed. Discover was never upscale.

That we believe in the concept of an "upscale" credit card seems like it is a shadow of something. My comment is in reference to society as a whole, that think a credit card is a status symbol.

[disneysteve]

That we believe in the concept of an "upscale" credit card seems like it is a shadow of something. My comment is in reference to society as a whole, that think a credit card is a status symbol.

There are definitely upscale credit cards. Amex would be the first one that comes to mind. But then there are all of the elite cards that have annual fees of hundreds of dollars. Your average Joe isn't getting one of those.

[ua_guy]

Yes, there are credit cards that are harder to get and which have more benefits and they require higher income and excellent credit. But these are obtainable, and I tend to agree...even an "upscale" credit card should not be viewed as a status symbol. The elite-tier cards are typically invitation-only, and not via mass-printed "offer" in the mail like us plebs receive. Being invited by an issuing bank to use a credit program extended to the wealthiest and most elite, well, that kind of is a status symbol.

You wouldn't believe it, but I've never received one of those offers

My card has a beautiful picture of Mt. Rainier on it in sepia. It makes the glaciers almost look 3D, and there's a pronounced tree-line and foreground that fades to black. It was a random iPhone pic I took while driving a dump truck. Better than some elite card, I get comments on it sometimes. It's just a run of the mill signature card.

[james.hendrickson]

Its unclear to me how this would impact the finances of Joe and Jane average.