Update 2/11/25: Capital One & Discover have agreed to an extension until May 19, 2025 due to ongoing litigation and need to secure regulatory approvals.
Update 10/25/24: Deal won’t close this year.
Capital One will buy Discover Financial Services, WSJ reports. The bank will keep the Discover brand. The massive merger will combine two of the largest credit card issuers in the US.
Capital One uses Visa and Mastercard for most of its cards. They plans to switch some of their cards to the Discover network, and continue using Visa and Mastercard for others.
Now, what’s on my mind: will Discover start doing 3-pulls for credit card applications? 🙂 In all likelihood, it will be many years until there are any changes to how either bank operates. It remains to be seen if this will affect credit card or bank signup bonuses in the longer term.
They better keep the 100% U.S. based customer service. I love my Discover accounts and that is a large reason even though I rarely need to use it
Got a $200 offer on Discover Savings account for holding 25K for 60 days until 5/11. Seems like padding up the Balance Sheet to ensure smooth merger with Crap One.
I’m waiting for a bank bonus to post and then I had planned to move a lump sum from my Discover savings account to open a new Capital One account and hopefully collect the new savings account bonus they are offering. I’m wondering if a merger will result in not recognizing my funds coming from Discover Bank as “new” money and thus ineligible for the Capital One bank bonus?
The merger has been delayed for months so you have nothing to worry about.
Still hoping this fails to go through. Discover Checking will probably on a lifeline if the merger goes through.
What benefits do you get from your Discover Checking account now?
Nothing I imagine. SoFi is far better with their UI, Checking and Savings.
What benefits do you get from your SoFi Checking account now?
SoFi has no cashback debit. A cashback debit can be super useful depending where you are. Some discount groceries only take cash or debit. Rent payments may accept debit for a low flat fee rather than a % as with cc. Discover is the most hassle free all around cashback debit card I have seen and it’s from a reputable brand that has been around for decades, unlike all those sketchy fly by night fintech companies. I honestly cannot think of any fintech banks that have lasted for more than five years except for the big names like CashApp. Oxygen was amazing while it was around. Beautiful app, beautiful card.
Do you notice you never get any answers in the Doc of Credit comment section??
That’s not accurate at all! I would estimate that I get answers to approximately 10% of my questions. Remember, never say never!
10% is pathetic. Considering this is a Credit/Business/Money site.
Not everyone turns on the notifications.
I’m pretty sure that
tristran shandy was trying to take a shot at me rather than at you with that comment. The implication seems to be that the vast majority of people on DoC dislike me so they ignore my questions.
The joke’s on
tristran shandy as I already knew that and have stated it myself on multiple occasions!
There’s no joke on me. I’m pointing out that I’ve been on this site for years and almost never get any questions. answered.
You wrote “Do you notice you never get any answer” but I now see that you meant to write “Do you notice people never get any answer”.
Yes, you are correct that the vast majority of people do not respond to questions by me and by others.
I know that it’s a lousy feeling to be ignored so that’s why I look to answer as many questions as I can, whether they are directed at me or not.
You need to tag people you want answers from.
tristran shandy
OK. How do I tag someone?
There are multiple ways. However, the easiest way is to find any comment from the person from anywhere on the site.
Type (DON’T COPY/PASTE) the following: “@ guest _ comment#” (without the quotes and spaces).
For example, to tag you below, I found your old comment #2004636 and you now should receive a 2nd “Mention” email.
Were you aware that the “#” sign is not required to link to a comment? I purposely left out the “#” sign and only wrote “2004636” in my comment above because I didn’t want
tristran shandy to think that they were supposed to include the “#” sign in the tag comment. Of course now, my instructions aren’t clear again because of this!
I just want to clarify what needs to be done exactly. For the comment that I mentioned, I wrote it like this: “@ guest _ 2004636” (without the quotes and spaces) and it ended up looking like this
tristran shandy.
Got it?
Nope, was not, but that’s interesting 2005483
ETA: huh, must be another chrome thing…
No, it turns out that it was my mistake! I meant to avoid using the “#” sign in my initial comment but I did include it. Force of habit!
lol, maybe you need reading glasses as well like you just suggested to someone else recently 😀
DoC should do a better job of encouraging them too. This would make this site a lot more popular.
Found a way to max out the 1% cash back without actually spending money. Two Discover Checking gets me $60 per month for clicking a button online a couple times.
I’m curious if you do the same scheme that
WGU’s whole family uses but on a much smaller scale.
Please elaborate…
The checking account has a 1% cashback debit. That is super rare imo. I use it for rent payments. Still come out ahead $10 even with card payment fee.
That’s interesting
Honestly I like cards from both banks but I’d rather keep them separate as to not to have all eggs in one basket.
I guess until it closes there is a chance this won’t happen, not matter how minuscule. So good news?
OMG… I like Discover bank but I hate Capital One…. Sad to hear this news.
Yeah, time to close all Discover accounts in preparation for this. Without CFPB it will be hard to deal with Capital One.
That’s a huge overreaction. Why not play it by ear and see what happens?
Good advice.
Is CFPB effective at doing that?
IsWas CFPB effective at doing that?FTFY
You and everyone else hate CapOne. They’re CAP
Doubt Discover Cashback Checking will last since C1 is subject to the Durbin Rule for debit cards. I have an account I fund with a few hundred to use where credit cards are surcharged. Anyone have a no strings attached alternative with Visa/MC that offers 1% CB on debit?
Upgrade checking account with debit card. 1% CB, no limit.
There is definitely a limit. Then shutdown.
What numbers were you doing before shutdown?
My P3 has been doing 60-90k/month for maybe 2+ years now.
You have a lucky P3.
Holy cow.
After seeing WGU’s comment, I immediately remembered this discussion between WGU, David and myself: #1818762 . Am I correct that neither of you had seen this chat before?
No, I had not,
Eric 🔗.
What does MS and MO mean in the linked comment? I presume MO means money order, but not sure about the MS?
It’s your lucky day as I just answered a similar question from
Bank Bonus Bodhisattva earlier today. Read through this chat for the answer to your question: #2003024 .
Still alive, I would say an average of less than 10k a month.
WGU? Are you Western Governors University? Is a degree from there worth it?
WGU
Currently doing a degree from them. It’s worth it if you can put in the work. It’s very self-directive and need a good amount of dedication. I would say it’s worth it since a lot of their degrees include certifications.
Thanks Rom. What Bachelor degree are you doing there? Fiance? How much time do you expect would finish? 2-3 years?
Rom
Hey Jack,
I am doing a masters in cybersecurity, my wife did her bachelor’s and is currently doing a masters in MBA, she loves it. I expect to finish in 2 years but I’ve been slacking. So like I said, it depends on how serious you are and how much time you can give. Honestly, I’ve been struggling but it’s all my fault really. It’s great if you are very organized and can structure yourself.
Thanks Rom for sharing. Don’t be too harsh on yourself. You probably have other responsibilities in life. I wish you all the best! Many banks and credit union need you and other cybersecurity people! Because our data are precious!
Rom
I got denied for their checking account lol. Probably because my cred score is “Poor”
These are the two I know of:
Affinity FCU has a cash back debit account earning 1% cash back.
FutureCard has a cash back debit account earning 1% cash back, and more in certain categories. 5% cash back on certain categories (thrift stores including eBay, short & long distance public transportation (bus, train, subway), bikes & bike repair & rental including ebikes, same for electric scooters, vegan restaurants, a few other things), 6% at certain merchants.
Doc has posts on both of them. Both have bonus for signing up with referral link I believe.
Affinity is limited to $10/month cashback.
is discover not subject to that for some reason?
Yes by a country mile, this guy has no idea what he’s talking about.
Are you answering “yes” to
GZG’s question by saying that Discover is not subject to it or did you mean to write “no” that Discover is subject to it already?
Discover IS subject to the interchange fee caps on debit card transactions.
Pick your report format to view exempt institutions:
https://www.federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems/regii-interchange-fee-standards.htm
I didn’t read the article but I’ll take your word for it. Since
Nick was apparently wrong about that, do you think that others are also overreacting to the possible merger and that it won’t really be that bad for us Discover credit cardholders?
tl;dr: After digging and thinking a bit more, I don’t think this will end well for us.
I’d speculate in the near term, more than anything it’ll depend how greedy Capital One is. Discover’s debit card is a proper debit card (runs on the PULSE network) but can also run over the standard Discover credit network. If it runs on the credit network, average interchange fees are 1.26%, but on the PULSE network it’s only pulling in 0.75%. There’s definitely money to be made by cutting the cash back paid to customers and pocketing the difference since that’s generally how people expect debit cards work.
That being said, there are a lot of systems that just automatically assume Discover cards are credit cards and default to the more expensive network, and that has to make Discover some money. If Capital One expands issuance on the network – and they absolutely want to – there’s a good chance those default routings will get fixed and they’ll start processing more transactions over the lower-cost network which will eat into profits. Longer term, expanded issuance probably doesn’t bode well for the cash back.
Interestingly enough, in 2023 100% of debit transactions on the Discover credit network were exempt from the interchange fee standard (i.e. they could charge higher rates) even though Discover isn’t covered under the small issuer exemption. I’m honestly not sure what to make of that…
https://www.federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems/regii-average-interchange-fee.htm
You must have missed that I edited my comment from “Discover cardholders?” to “Discover credit cardholders?” as your entire spiel is about Discover Debit cards.
Any opinion on how it will affect Discover credit cardholders like me?
Unfortunately no idea on how this will go for credit cards (I’d love to see my Discover it card come out of this unscathed). The credit world is a whole different thing and won’t be subject to any of the restrictions/limits that started this thread. If anything, CapOne acquiring Discover’s network will strengthen their negotiating position with merchants and improve their ability to offer outsized rewards (e.g. sign-up bonuses), but the fate of existing products will be subject to the whims of Capital One.
Discover is removing AAA and another partnership branding from their savings accounts.
I was able to churn the Disc Miles card at least 3x over the past 3 years for the 3% back, after 12 months. (Used exclusively for cats that no other card had for the cashback. ,like doctor copays, dentists, and insurance premiums. Plus, other assorted stuff inc Vanilla cards. They do not care what you buy!! AMEX was always iffy on the VGC so no worries on Disc Miles. I just finished my 3rd Disc card this month. My method is to cancel 2 months after the 3% posts and reapply another month later. Cap 1 will probably not do this.
But my latest method is just to buy VGC in Staples when they have no fee using Inks, and then 5%. So, no more Disc. for me.
Except for airlines. Or do you buy 200$ giftcards for them too?