topic Re: who backs discover? in Credit Cards

who backs discover?

Anonymous — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:06:16 GMT

i just recently got my discover more card, as most of you know..(hahaha) and i was just wondering what bank backs them??

i thought they and sears used to be banked by same ones but i think sears is now citibacked..

Re: who backs discover?

Anonymous — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:19:14 GMT

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is a leading credit card issuer and electronic payment services company with one of the most recognized brands in U.S. financial services. Since our inception in 1986, we have grown to become one of the largest card issuers in the United States. Our payments businesses consist of the Discover Network, with millions of merchant and cash access locations, and PULSE, one of the nation's leading ATM/debit networks.

Since Discover Card's launch in 1986, DFS has continuously been a leading innovator and driver of change in the credit card industry. From the outset, DFS has worked to expand Discover Network, a network that connects to millions of merchant and cash access locations, as well as markets and supports a full range of credit, debit, and prepaid cards, including the Discover Card.

The company's track record of pioneering accomplishments includes the introduction of cash rewards, known as "Cashback Bonus" - America's #1 Cash Rewards program, according to TNS 2007 Consumer Card Strategies Research data that shows more U.S. households have a Discover Card than any other cash rewards card. Discover Card was one of the earliest to offer 24/7 customer service and secure account numbers for online purchases.

http://www.discoverfinancial.com/company/business.shtml

Re: who backs discover?

Anonymous — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:29:58 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is a leading credit card issuer and electronic payment services company with one of the most recognized brands in U.S. financial services. Since our inception in 1986, we have grown to become one of the largest card issuers in the United States. Our payments businesses consist of the Discover Network, with millions of merchant and cash access locations, and PULSE, one of the nation's leading ATM/debit networks.
Since Discover Card's launch in 1986, DFS has continuously been a leading innovator and driver of change in the credit card industry. From the outset, DFS has worked to expand Discover Network, a network that connects to millions of merchant and cash access locations, as well as markets and supports a full range of credit, debit, and prepaid cards, including the Discover Card.
The company's track record of pioneering accomplishments includes the introduction of cash rewards, known as "Cashback Bonus" - America's #1 Cash Rewards program, according to TNS 2007 Consumer Card Strategies Research data that shows more U.S. households have a Discover Card than any other cash rewards card. Discover Card was one of the earliest to offer 24/7 customer service and secure account numbers for online purchases.
http://www.discoverfinancial.com/company/business.shtml

No kidding. I had no idea Discover basically invented cash back.

Re: who backs discover?

Anonymous — Fri, 16 May 2008 02:19:12 GMT

discover, amex, visa, and mc are all on their own, banks dont back them..

The main difference in the four is AMEX and Discover give cards directly to the public, and make their money off of interest from consumers and fees to merchants.

Visa and MC make their money by charging banks for the rights to issue cards to consumers, and charging fees to merchants.

Visa is the biggest of the four, last i looked they had about 50% market share.

Re: who backs discover?

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 17 May 2008 17:02:31 GMT

The "real" Discover card is backed by Discover Bank, just as the "real" AmEx cards are backed by American Express Centurion Bank. By contrast, the Discover card from HSBC is issued by HSBC, the USAA AmEx is issued by * USAA *, and so forth. As fender said, these are just processed by the card service networks.

There isn't a Visa bank or a Mastercard bank; these are purely card service networks.

edited to correct senior moment (thanks, Fretless Mayhem!)

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 05-17-2008 10:02 AM

Re: who backs discover?

Anonymous — Sat, 17 May 2008 17:07:20 GMT

@haulingthescoreup wrote:

The "real" Discover card is backed by Discover Bank, just as the "real" AmEx cards are backed by American Express Centurion Bank. By contrast, the Discover card from HSBC is issued by HSBC, the USAA AmEx is issued by ~~AmEx~~, and so forth. As fender said, these are just processed by the card service networks.

There isn't a Visa bank or a Mastercard bank; these are purely card service networks.

I thought the USAA Amex was issued by USAA. I didn't know it was an actual Amex card.

edited to strike through bad post --thanks, Fretless!

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 05-17-2008 10:07 AM

Re: who backs discover?

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 17 May 2008 17:09:34 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@haulingthescoreup wrote:

The "real" Discover card is backed by Discover Bank, just as the "real" AmEx cards are backed by American Express Centurion Bank. By contrast, the Discover card from HSBC is issued by HSBC, the USAA ~~AmEx~~ is issued by AmEx, and so forth. As fender said, these are just processed by the card service networks.

There isn't a Visa bank or a Mastercard bank; these are purely card service networks.

I thought the USAA Amex was issued by USAA. I didn't know it was an actual Amex card.

Whoops, my bad! Thanks for catching that; you're exactly right.

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 05-17-2008 10:09 AM

Re: who backs discover?

Anonymous — Sat, 17 May 2008 22:26:16 GMT

Love Discover. Excellent service EXCEPT: They made my fico go down 13+ this week. Succcccccked. Did not go over my limit, didnt pay late - but used a lot of credit in a short amount of time.

Re: who backs discover?

Anonymous — Sat, 17 May 2008 22:54:10 GMT

They didn't make your score down, you did by your own admission.