Are Discover cards considered "bank cards"?

CBetc · ‎04-07-2022

One of the negative factors on some of my Fico (and Vantage) scores indicates that I have no recent revolving balance on a bankcard. I had chosen a Comenity card (Caesars Rewards) as my single-reporting-balance card in prep for a mortgage application, and that apparently does not count as one. Although I have a WF card due date coming up, I'm wondering if my Discover IT card would count as a bankcard for scoring purposes, or if Discover Bank isn't... sufficiently a bank.

Any experience or advice in this area would be helpful.

donkort · ‎04-07-2022

Discover Cards are "direct to consumer" cards; whereas Mastercard and Visa are sponsored by banks.

Discover Cards aren't accepted in as many place as Mastercard or Visa. However, I do believe they are scored like Mastercard and Visa, and have more "status" than cards which are only used in particular stores (e.g., Macy's credit card without the Visa/Mastercard logo).

Some Discover cards are "revolvers," in that you could make a minimum payment per month, and keep a balance. Some are not.

FICO 8: EQ 810; TU 816; EX 822 as of 7/5/2022

FinStar · ‎04-07-2022

@donkort wrote:
Discover Cards are "direct to consumer" cards; whereas Mastercard and Visa are sponsored by banks.

Discover Cards aren't accepted in as many place as Mastercard or Visa. However, I do believe they are scored like Mastercard and Visa, and have more "status" than cards which are only used in particular stores (e.g., Macy's credit card without the Visa/Mastercard logo).

Some Discover cards are "revolvers," in that you could make a minimum payment per month, and keep a balance. Some are not.

@donkort- Discover Cards are bank cards. There is no separate treatment by the CRAs regardless how they are classififed in the marketplace. Just because Discover isn't accepted as any of the others, doesn't make them any different as to how credit reporting agencies classify them. Not sure what you mean by the comment "have more "status"".

Also, can you please clarify the bolded statement? What do you mean some are "revolvers"? Last I checked, there are no Discover charge cards, since any of them are treated and considered revolving tradelines.

FinStar · ‎04-07-2022

@CBetc wrote:
One of the negative factors on some of my Fico (and Vantage) scores indicates that I have no recent revolving balance on a bankcard. I had chosen a Comenity card (Caesars Rewards) as my single-reporting-balance card in prep for a mortgage application, and that apparently does not count as one. Although I have a WF card due date coming up, I'm wondering if my Discover IT card would count as a bankcard for scoring purposes, or if Discover Bank isn't... sufficiently a bank.

Any experience or advice in this area would be helpful.

It is, and it counts as a bankcard @CBetc.

donkort · ‎04-07-2022

My mistake. I thought some Discover Cards were like some American Express cards----in that you have to pay all your monthly charges, and can't carry a balance to the next month.

Discover Cards aren't sponsored by a particular bank----am I right? I did state that they are scored identically to Mastercard and Visa.

I've had times when my FICO score was affected by the presence of "consumer finance accounts." Something like Household Finance. I haven't had one of those since the 1990s. I've been advised not to obtain too many "store cards" because they are considered in a league with "consumer finance accounts."

FICO 8: EQ 810; TU 816; EX 822 as of 7/5/2022

FinStar · ‎04-07-2022

@donkort wrote:
My mistake. I thought some Discover Cards were like some American Express cards----in that you have to pay all your monthly charges, and can't carry a balance to the next month.

Discover Cards aren't sponsored by a particular bank----am I right? I did state that they are scored identically to Mastercard and Visa.

I've had times when my FICO score was affected by the presence of "consumer finance accounts." Something like Household Finance. I haven't had one of those since the 1990s. I've been advised not to obtain too many "store cards" because they are considered in a league with "consumer finance accounts."

No, Discover cards are not like American Express cards as far as products go -- charge cards or revolving cards.

Discover is a brand (like American Express) and their credit cards are issued by Discover Bank. Currently, Discover doesn't have any partner or affinity [agent] banks where some of their cards are issued. But, in the past, they were issued in partnership with HSBC, FNBO, Comenity, SYNCB, etc.

By and large, the OP was simply asking about whether Discover credit cards were bankcards. In general, store cards in it of themselves are not in the same league as consumer finance accounts (CFAs), nor scored as such. Yet, it also depends on which state you reside since the practice of using CRA data is banned in a few states when it comes to insurance underwriting. In a variety of cases, for states that allow the practice, [too] many store cards on a consumer file can have some impacts associated with insurance risk scores. But, it hasn't stopped folks from shopping for the best rates.

donkort · ‎04-07-2022

I understand. Thank you.

FICO 8: EQ 810; TU 816; EX 822 as of 7/5/2022

SouthJamaica · ‎04-07-2022

@CBetc wrote:
One of the negative factors on some of my Fico (and Vantage) scores indicates that I have no recent revolving balance on a bankcard. I had chosen a Comenity card (Caesars Rewards) as my single-reporting-balance card in prep for a mortgage application, and that apparently does not count as one. Although I have a WF card due date coming up, I'm wondering if my Discover IT card would count as a bankcard for scoring purposes, or if Discover Bank isn't... sufficiently a bank.

Any experience or advice in this area would be helpful.

Yes Discover would count as a bank card.

Store cards don't count for AZEO purposes.

Unify FCU Platinum Visa Variable Rate 35k

TD Bank Business Solutions Visa (Bus) 25k

FNBO Evergreen Business Edition Visa (Bus) 20k

Liberty (formerly Evansville Teachers) FCU Platinum Prime Plus MC 15k

US Bank Triple Cash Rewards Visa (Bus) 12k

SEG-fenced credit union Platinum Visa 10500

Comenity AAA Travel Advantage Visa $6200

Members 1st FCU Low Rate Platinum Visa 5k

PLOC: Langley FCU 40k; Penfed CU 15k; NFCU 15k; Teachers FCU 15k; Affinity FCU 10k. BLOC: NFCU 5k

Total revolving limits 741200 (620700 reporting) FICO 8: EQ 703 TU 704 EX 687

Kahnawake007 · ‎04-07-2022

Discover is it's own bank, much like Mastercard and Visa are their own banks. Much like we have Experian, Equifax and TransUniun.

Unlike Visa and Mastercard, they do not authorize third party banks to co-brand with them.

Yes you can get a Chase credit card or BMO or XYZ credit union. Those banks will have co-branded partnerships with Mastercard or Visa.

You're talking as if Discover is a subprime bank when it is actually a prime bank of itself equal to Mastercard and Visa. It may not be accepted everywhere like Visa, but neither is Mastercard.

CBetc · ‎04-07-2022

@SouthJamaica wrote:
Store cards don't count for AZEO purposes.

Thanks. Yeah, I did know that. The Caesars Rewards card is a regular Visa, issued by Comenity and accepted anywhere. But I guess it doesn't sufficiently count as a "bankcard".

So really there's (at least) three kinds of revolvers: store-only cards, credit cards issued by a qualifying bank, and credit cards not issued by a qualifying bank. I suspect my Macys Amex and Target Mastercard would probably fall into the latter category as well.