Discover Financial Services turns out to be a United States’ based global financial service outfit. They issue and service the Discover Card and Diners Club International Card and operate Pulse Networks. Their flagship card proves to be the third biggest brand of credit cards within the U.S. based on the number of cards in use. The company boasts almost 50 million different card holders nationally.
Sears began the Discover legacy by introducing the card originally back in 1985. It launched the original credit card with cash rewards a year later in 1986. Stock broker Dean Witter acquired the card from Sears and then later merged its company with Morgan Stanley in 1997. The Discover Financial Services first acquired its independence with the spin off of the company in 2007. It became a publicly traded corporation headquartered in Riverwoods, Illinois, a Chicago suburb.
The company is involved with both credit cards and banking. This business offers their proprietary brand credit cards, personal loans, private student loans, checking and savings accounts, home equity loans, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit to its clients.
Their customers include both consumers and small businesses today who utilize their travel, cash, and gift cards throughout the U.S. and the world. Their two banking affiliates are Bank of New Castle and Discover Bank. Both are regulated and chartered through the FDIC and the Office of the Delaware State Bank Commissioner. The FDIC is both their insurer and federal regulator.
Besides being among the largest credit card issuers in the country and a significant bank, the company also owns and operates the PULSE network. This is a national leading network of ATM/debit machines. For more than three decades they have provided this among the largest in the country networks.
It offers services to over 4,500 credit unions, banks, and other financial institutions throughout the United States. Cardholders are linked up with POS payment terminals and ATM machines around the U.S. through their services. PULSE is technologically advanced in its offering of simultaneous transaction processing and settlement.
They also own Diners Club International since 2008. This globally known brand provides financial payment services and credit for small businesses, corporations, and consumers. Launched in 1950, Diners Club International provided the world’s original multiple use credit cards. Its cards boast acceptance in over 185 countries via millions of cash access points and merchant locations across the globe today.
Thanks to these combined operations, literally billions of different financial transactions go through their network of electronic payments every year. The Discover Network handles a complete line up of cards, including prepaid, debit, and credit cards. Their programs and tools were created to assist merchants, acquirers, and issues in growing their transactional volumes and operating their payment processing needs with effective and efficient operations. Internationally, the network relies on two different alliances that help to ensure the card is well accepted overseas. China UnionPay and JCB offer and receive reciprocal card acceptance throughout numerous nations around the globe.
Discover prides itself on its long running customer satisfaction success. For three years in a row through 2016, it has been ranked the “Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Credit Card Companies” by J.D. Power.