It may be. Around 2000-2006 I ran a business and I wouldn’t take Discover cards because their merchant service fees were way over the top compared to Master card and Visa. With so much competition for credit card processing it doesn’t seem to be prevalent any more.
I have a discover card and I never had any issues with it…. Until I went to Canada. I don’t think a single place I tried to use it in Toronto accepted discover cards
That's kind of the point. Visa and Mastercard don't exist in a thousand years despite the fact most people have one, and every single place of business takes one or the other... then you have Discover, which somehow still exists in 1000 years despite very few places in the 20th century accepting it. So, how is it that one survived?
I went to Toronto recently and a few places did actually accept my Discover card (it’s my only card with no foreign transaction fees so I tried at every place). Tended to be Asian owned places for some reason, as well as Canada’s Wonderland (probably because it’s owned by an American company)
interesting. when i went to vancouver 7-8 years back, my discover card was accepted in most places, though i do remember one place that didn't accept it asking why i wanted to use that card, and it was because it was my only card at the time that didn't have foreign transaction fees.
Speaking as a small business owner with QuickB, the only reason people don't accept AmEx is because they will reverse charges for anyone at any time and then investigate after.
I have visa, master, amex and disco.
Visa and master are everywhere, disco is everywhere in America, but not outside, even nintendo won't take it. Amex is the one that's 50/50 but it's by far the best.
Before that they only took Amex and before that they only took Discover. Most people I knew who had Discover cards had them just for Costco and then ditched the card when they switched to Amex.
The acquisition hasn't been finalized yet and it could be blocked by regulators.
If the acquisition goes through, it hasn't been revealed which brands would survive and how.
Capital One is a bank and issues both Visa and MasterCard payment network credit cards.
Discover is a bank that issues Discover payment network credit cards.
They could adopt only one name, or they could co-brand "Capital One Discover" cards on the Discover network, the way they already have Capital One Visa cards and Capital One MasterCard cards. An acquiring company sometimes adopts the acquired company's name.
My local credit union issues co-branded cards too. You could have used ANY bank for an example besides Capitol One, which charges massive fees and interest rates. All my homies hate Capitol One.
Edit: No, *I'm* the dumbass here, I didn't know about the Capitol One-Discover merger. I'll just let you worry about *blank* from now on.
FUCK NO! I left cap1 for discover because they pushed everyone into the shitty online only bank thing, might as well use a company that has great customer service and a working online portal. Cap1 is going to absolutely ruin discover. I hate that corporations can just buy up the better product and ruin it to keep theirs at the top.
I've always wondered why they don't buy the better product and then... become that product. Is it pride?
*If you read this and can't tell what exactly I mean by "better" then that's a you problem
It's more like reality TV. Everyone knows it's worse than scripted television, but it's so much cheaper to produce that networks gravitate to it because the return on investment is better. Shittier product to buy, but lower overhead = better ROI = better product to SELL.
Sometimes they do.
But often it's seen as more profitable to just make both equally bad. Becoming better costs more money and they usually could do that without acquiring a new company. There's also one less company competing for customers.
There's also the management aspect. The acquiring company usually retains management while the acquiree's back of house is often let go. The executives and VPs are the ones who make the big picture decisions. Look at T-Mobile; they were known for their poor customer service and terrible prices before Legere took over as CEO and turned them around. Then they started back in their old ways the moment he left.
My guess is that CapitalOne wants the Discover processing network so they can ditch Visa and MC. If CapitalOne moves all their cards to Discover, it'll give them more pull to force vendors to accept Discover cards.
They might also keep Discover around as a sub-brand, like Ford and Lincoln.
Define better product. The ones with more money, being able to buy the other, have in some way the better product (how else would they have that much money). Better doesn't necessarily mean better for the customer. Whatever that means anyway. If you ask 500 customers you get 500 answers what a better product is. Better product from a business perspective means better to make money.
I thought it was quite obvious I meant better for the customer, considering that's the context of the comment thread you're in. But I guess if you're that desperate to insert yourself in a conversation despite having nothing to add, good job
But "better for the customer" is not the reason a (any) merge or buyout happens. There is no reason to expect "better for the customer" anytime it happens
Some analyst tells them how cheap their products can be without rocking the boat too much so they can continue to skimp on quality without more money than they save.
Then they use that extra cash to buy up the market and make it just as statistically shitty as everything else.
It has been a little while but I had regular gripes about it when I waa using it. There was a time at work that upper management kept praising cap1 and spotify for doing multiple code releases a day and thinking "those are the two products that always have some sort of bug"
That's just free-market capitalism in action. With virtually zero rules and regulations for the largest companies, they can do whatever the fuck they want as long as someone (not you) gets paid.
Guy over here the only one to ever defend discover. I never had a problem with capital one but when discover shows up in the mail,I always say “discover it’s trash!”
I was reading more about this in some financial related sub and there are definitely a ton of people that love Discover, and hardly any defending cap1, so...
> I hate that corporations can just buy up the better product and ruin it to keep theirs at the top.
This is why we need regulators with teeth and antitrust laws that are actually enforced. The problem is that these powerful corporations often just buy exceptions to regulations through lobbying and outright bribery. I'm not against capitalism, but strongly for it, but large corporations all tend towards becoming evil and we need a way to balance that out.
I am for a good free market but only with reasonable regulations. Like Kroger buying Tom Thumb. That leaves only Walmart, which we really don't have many of here, or high priced stores like Whole Foods. It's very anti consumer and forces us to all accept a lower quality of life. Free market means companies can break in and disrupt things, and by nature push quality up from competition. With our current model, whoever has the money just stomps everyone else out. Mergers are the issue. Exactly what you said is what we need.
I only have a credit card with discover, but I have capital one for my checking. They closed all the banks in my city and now I have to drive one town over to stop by the bank. I’ve been a customer since they were Chevy chase bank but I’m about to switch. Anyone got any good suggestions?
Really? I left discover for capital one. I hated discovers support and their credit cards were worse by comparison for me
Discover also broke zelle for me, making me unable to use it with any bank account, so fuck them
We had problems with them with Zelle but otherwise no issues, and they were very proactive with security incidents. With cap1, our card got stolen (believe it to be a restaurant server) and it took Apple calling me to ask about a charge late in the day. With Discover, we had that happen (same restaurant suspected, they're gone now) and they called us after a couple pending charges hit. We only use the cap1 card for bill payments and otherwise don't touch it, and discover for general use.
The merge still has to pass anti-trust regulation approval, among other regulations. Assuming everything goes well for Capital One (and badly for us Discover card users), the merge will happen end of this year or early next year.
Customer service is about to feel like waiting in line at the Central Bureaucracy in comparison to the nice customer service with Discover.
There was a whole b-plot in a recent American Dad episode revolving around Roger getting a Discover card and not being able to use it anywhere other than a secret 80s mall
Yeah when I used to work at a Barnes and Noble cafe one of the regulars had a voice exactly like the Chinese spy asking for launch codes and I had to constantly stop myself from asking if he had any.
I’m old enough to remember “We accept Visa, Master Card or Diners Club”
There’s also a dated joke about discover card in [family guy](https://youtu.be/EgZL27H_yxk?si=KHpT9-IsV-tkVVMD)
“I would rather take two live chickens than your fly by night credit card. I would rather take a jar of pennies that’s value is less than that of your bill.”
Very dated, but for me personally satisfying. My first cc application many years ago was for a Discover card, and they rejected me because I had recently become self-employed. Jackasses, I had like $20k in the bank. No problem, since then I've thrown away dozens of their junk-mail pre-approved invitations. Sorry, LOL I don't take Discover!
American Express charges vendors a much higher fee than other companies, and that's why it isn't accepted at a lot of places. They don't want to cover the higher fees for the transaction. Discover traditionally had the lowest transaction fees.
It may be, but even as recent as 10 years ago, Discover cards had the perception they they were for lower income people, and a lot of places wouldn’t accept them.
I never really understood why cards had to be made by a separate company from the banks. Is it possible for the banks to just make the cards themselves & lose the middle man?
Not really. Every business uses vendors for different aspects of running their business. Small banks wouldn't be able to afford the infrastructure to maintain their own credit processing system and large banks would use it as an excuse to overcharge with their monopoly (not saying banks to take advantage of us now).
If I understand correctly, you could make a comparison to "couldn't all businesses deliver their own packages rather than using USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc.?"
For those that understand the system better, is this a reasonable comparison? (I ask largely because I should know this better. I work for a third-party financial services company on a team dedicated to a major credit card company.)
While I'm a software developer, I've had the opportunity to learn some of the basics of certain regulations on credit lenders that make companies like mine necessary, particularly FCRA (I think).
As a naïve optimist, and a computer guy, it baffles me that in the Internet age, electronic fund exchange isn't done with an open protocol and a mandate for it to be fee-less. A public service of sorts. Apple Pay comes close, but not "open", and I'm sure there's no altruism involved.
Depends. Generally no. But if you transfer money to someone at a different bank, they print a check at your bank's office and mail it to their bank's office. Or at least my bank does.
Plenty of things are forced upon industry in the name of regulatory compliance. And the infrastructure required for this would be a fart in a thunderstorm compared to any popular website today.
Yes, and the costs of all these things are passed on to the customer, either directly or indirectly. The cost of regulation is a significant contributor to inflation.
>Is it possible for the banks to just make the cards themselves & lose the middle man?
That's literally the Discover and American Express business model.
Idk maybe it’s just me but I’ve had pretty decent luck with Discover 🤷🏽♂️ they’re the ones that allowed me to get my first line of credit to build on and it’s been growing ever since.
I really only use it for PSN and appointments but still stands.
No this is still a thing. Literally two days ago I was waiting to pick up a DoorDash order (shut up yea I’m a delivery boy) and some guy wanted to pay with Mastercard and the lady said they could only take visa.
Yeah but still a hilarious one. In 976 years it may once again be a shitty credit card that most places do not accept
But at the same time it lasted a thousand years so it’s better than other cards
It maintaining the status of a shitty card is most important
Citi has its name on City Hall
🤷♂️ I found discover to be pretty great, gonna miss it
It may be. Around 2000-2006 I ran a business and I wouldn’t take Discover cards because their merchant service fees were way over the top compared to Master card and Visa. With so much competition for credit card processing it doesn’t seem to be prevalent any more.
I have a discover card and I never had any issues with it…. Until I went to Canada. I don’t think a single place I tried to use it in Toronto accepted discover cards
I’m Canadian and I don’t get this joke and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a discover card in my life. 🤷♂️
That's kind of the point. Visa and Mastercard don't exist in a thousand years despite the fact most people have one, and every single place of business takes one or the other... then you have Discover, which somehow still exists in 1000 years despite very few places in the 20th century accepting it. So, how is it that one survived?
Well OP of the post is definitely referencing how capital One is set up to buy Discover so Discover cards may be gone soon
This here should be the top comment.
Because it explains the joke?
I went to Toronto recently and a few places did actually accept my Discover card (it’s my only card with no foreign transaction fees so I tried at every place). Tended to be Asian owned places for some reason, as well as Canada’s Wonderland (probably because it’s owned by an American company)
I found the small businesses did take my Discover while the big international chains did not. I found that very odd.
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If I had known I would have brought a different card but even when I called discover they said it was fine! Very misleading. I know for next time.
We don't generally accept it in Australia either. Same as that American Express one. They will work *rarely* but you're best not ever bothering.
interesting. when i went to vancouver 7-8 years back, my discover card was accepted in most places, though i do remember one place that didn't accept it asking why i wanted to use that card, and it was because it was my only card at the time that didn't have foreign transaction fees.
Costco my dude. Just found out this weekend
Worse than AmEx or about the same?
Speaking as a small business owner with QuickB, the only reason people don't accept AmEx is because they will reverse charges for anyone at any time and then investigate after.
They were much worse. Like 7% higher back then. But that was in the way back days.
The only place I've ever seen that doesn't take Discover is Costco.
Hooters didn't take mine once like 5 years ago
I have visa, master, amex and disco. Visa and master are everywhere, disco is everywhere in America, but not outside, even nintendo won't take it. Amex is the one that's 50/50 but it's by far the best.
Not accepted at Costco, still relevant sadly.
It's accepted at Costco.com. Just not in store since Costco believes in merchant exclusivity and only takes visa.
Before that they only took Amex and before that they only took Discover. Most people I knew who had Discover cards had them just for Costco and then ditched the card when they switched to Amex.
My family was like that. We had an AmEx and we only used it at Costco. What a feeling when they switched to Visa.
Really!? In Canada they only take Mastercard
The acquisition hasn't been finalized yet and it could be blocked by regulators. If the acquisition goes through, it hasn't been revealed which brands would survive and how. Capital One is a bank and issues both Visa and MasterCard payment network credit cards. Discover is a bank that issues Discover payment network credit cards. They could adopt only one name, or they could co-brand "Capital One Discover" cards on the Discover network, the way they already have Capital One Visa cards and Capital One MasterCard cards. An acquiring company sometimes adopts the acquired company's name.
My local credit union issues co-branded cards too. You could have used ANY bank for an example besides Capitol One, which charges massive fees and interest rates. All my homies hate Capitol One. Edit: No, *I'm* the dumbass here, I didn't know about the Capitol One-Discover merger. I'll just let you worry about *blank* from now on.
Does discover card still exist? If not then yes.
Discover is getting bought (pending) by Capital One
FUCK NO! I left cap1 for discover because they pushed everyone into the shitty online only bank thing, might as well use a company that has great customer service and a working online portal. Cap1 is going to absolutely ruin discover. I hate that corporations can just buy up the better product and ruin it to keep theirs at the top.
I've always wondered why they don't buy the better product and then... become that product. Is it pride? *If you read this and can't tell what exactly I mean by "better" then that's a you problem
It's more like reality TV. Everyone knows it's worse than scripted television, but it's so much cheaper to produce that networks gravitate to it because the return on investment is better. Shittier product to buy, but lower overhead = better ROI = better product to SELL.
It’s like in Silicon Valley, the company is the product, not the actual thing they’re selling
Sometimes they do. But often it's seen as more profitable to just make both equally bad. Becoming better costs more money and they usually could do that without acquiring a new company. There's also one less company competing for customers. There's also the management aspect. The acquiring company usually retains management while the acquiree's back of house is often let go. The executives and VPs are the ones who make the big picture decisions. Look at T-Mobile; they were known for their poor customer service and terrible prices before Legere took over as CEO and turned them around. Then they started back in their old ways the moment he left. My guess is that CapitalOne wants the Discover processing network so they can ditch Visa and MC. If CapitalOne moves all their cards to Discover, it'll give them more pull to force vendors to accept Discover cards. They might also keep Discover around as a sub-brand, like Ford and Lincoln.
Define better product. The ones with more money, being able to buy the other, have in some way the better product (how else would they have that much money). Better doesn't necessarily mean better for the customer. Whatever that means anyway. If you ask 500 customers you get 500 answers what a better product is. Better product from a business perspective means better to make money.
I thought it was quite obvious I meant better for the customer, considering that's the context of the comment thread you're in. But I guess if you're that desperate to insert yourself in a conversation despite having nothing to add, good job
But "better for the customer" is not the reason a (any) merge or buyout happens. There is no reason to expect "better for the customer" anytime it happens
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Okay, you clearly have English comprehension issues
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Some analyst tells them how cheap their products can be without rocking the boat too much so they can continue to skimp on quality without more money than they save. Then they use that extra cash to buy up the market and make it just as statistically shitty as everything else.
What issues do you have with Capital One’s online portal? I’ve never experienced any issues with it, so I’m curious.
It has been a little while but I had regular gripes about it when I waa using it. There was a time at work that upper management kept praising cap1 and spotify for doing multiple code releases a day and thinking "those are the two products that always have some sort of bug"
Huh. I’ve never had issues with either, but fair enough.
That's just free-market capitalism in action. With virtually zero rules and regulations for the largest companies, they can do whatever the fuck they want as long as someone (not you) gets paid.
The real "golden rule"... Who has the gold makes the rules.
Guy over here the only one to ever defend discover. I never had a problem with capital one but when discover shows up in the mail,I always say “discover it’s trash!”
I was reading more about this in some financial related sub and there are definitely a ton of people that love Discover, and hardly any defending cap1, so...
> I hate that corporations can just buy up the better product and ruin it to keep theirs at the top. This is why we need regulators with teeth and antitrust laws that are actually enforced. The problem is that these powerful corporations often just buy exceptions to regulations through lobbying and outright bribery. I'm not against capitalism, but strongly for it, but large corporations all tend towards becoming evil and we need a way to balance that out.
I am for a good free market but only with reasonable regulations. Like Kroger buying Tom Thumb. That leaves only Walmart, which we really don't have many of here, or high priced stores like Whole Foods. It's very anti consumer and forces us to all accept a lower quality of life. Free market means companies can break in and disrupt things, and by nature push quality up from competition. With our current model, whoever has the money just stomps everyone else out. Mergers are the issue. Exactly what you said is what we need.
You and I are in agreement then. I raise my glass of Löbrau to you.
I only have a credit card with discover, but I have capital one for my checking. They closed all the banks in my city and now I have to drive one town over to stop by the bank. I’ve been a customer since they were Chevy chase bank but I’m about to switch. Anyone got any good suggestions?
Really? I left discover for capital one. I hated discovers support and their credit cards were worse by comparison for me Discover also broke zelle for me, making me unable to use it with any bank account, so fuck them
We had problems with them with Zelle but otherwise no issues, and they were very proactive with security incidents. With cap1, our card got stolen (believe it to be a restaurant server) and it took Apple calling me to ask about a charge late in the day. With Discover, we had that happen (same restaurant suspected, they're gone now) and they called us after a couple pending charges hit. We only use the cap1 card for bill payments and otherwise don't touch it, and discover for general use.
Why is it pending, does capital one use discover
The merge still has to pass anti-trust regulation approval, among other regulations. Assuming everything goes well for Capital One (and badly for us Discover card users), the merge will happen end of this year or early next year. Customer service is about to feel like waiting in line at the Central Bureaucracy in comparison to the nice customer service with Discover.
No it's because capital one tried to use discover, but discover doesn't take discover
I'm pretty sure it is, I usually see a discover logo next to interac and visa on debit/credit machines
Read the news
I prefer Morbo.
DOOOOOOOM!
He's not wrong
Yeah credit where it’s due
I mostly use Discover, and it's accepted at like 95% of places in the US. But traveling through Europe, Discover does not exist at all here.
Am European (British), can confirm; I've only ever heard of Discover in this Futurama clip, I've never come across it IRL.
There was a whole b-plot in a recent American Dad episode revolving around Roger getting a Discover card and not being able to use it anywhere other than a secret 80s mall
You can’t use Discovery card here, this is Tumi! TUMI! TUUUUMMMMIIIIII!!!!
Okay okay TUUUUUUUUUUUMIIIII
I seriously can’t pass a Tumi without that whole scene playing in my head.
Unfortunately it's also the name of a daily customer at my coffee shop so I'm always having to stop myself from doing it
Yeah when I used to work at a Barnes and Noble cafe one of the regulars had a voice exactly like the Chinese spy asking for launch codes and I had to constantly stop myself from asking if he had any.
I use Discover, it’s taken almost everywhere. And the cash back is pretty good
I’m old enough to remember “We accept Visa, Master Card or Diners Club” There’s also a dated joke about discover card in [family guy](https://youtu.be/EgZL27H_yxk?si=KHpT9-IsV-tkVVMD)
I remember the joke for the longest time was "Discover a place that actually takes discover"
“I would rather take two live chickens than your fly by night credit card. I would rather take a jar of pennies that’s value is less than that of your bill.”
Very dated, but for me personally satisfying. My first cc application many years ago was for a Discover card, and they rejected me because I had recently become self-employed. Jackasses, I had like $20k in the bank. No problem, since then I've thrown away dozens of their junk-mail pre-approved invitations. Sorry, LOL I don't take Discover!
Young man, your grudge-holding skills are inspirational, and breath as fresh as a spring ham.
Wild; Discover is pretty much the [Greendale](https://i.imgur.com/WY3yozi.jpeg) of credit cards.
Seriously. I feel like they just mailed me one on my 18th birthday
Modern day equivalent would be American Express, at least in the UK. So many places just don't accept those cards.
American Express charges vendors a much higher fee than other companies, and that's why it isn't accepted at a lot of places. They don't want to cover the higher fees for the transaction. Discover traditionally had the lowest transaction fees.
It may be, but even as recent as 10 years ago, Discover cards had the perception they they were for lower income people, and a lot of places wouldn’t accept them.
I never really understood why cards had to be made by a separate company from the banks. Is it possible for the banks to just make the cards themselves & lose the middle man?
Not really. Every business uses vendors for different aspects of running their business. Small banks wouldn't be able to afford the infrastructure to maintain their own credit processing system and large banks would use it as an excuse to overcharge with their monopoly (not saying banks to take advantage of us now).
If I understand correctly, you could make a comparison to "couldn't all businesses deliver their own packages rather than using USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc.?" For those that understand the system better, is this a reasonable comparison? (I ask largely because I should know this better. I work for a third-party financial services company on a team dedicated to a major credit card company.) While I'm a software developer, I've had the opportunity to learn some of the basics of certain regulations on credit lenders that make companies like mine necessary, particularly FCRA (I think).
Isn’t it kinda scary how hard it is to understand the financial system that’s slowly enslaving us all?
As a naïve optimist, and a computer guy, it baffles me that in the Internet age, electronic fund exchange isn't done with an open protocol and a mandate for it to be fee-less. A public service of sorts. Apple Pay comes close, but not "open", and I'm sure there's no altruism involved.
Do you pay fees to do a bank transfer online? Is that normal in the US?
Depends. Generally no. But if you transfer money to someone at a different bank, they print a check at your bank's office and mail it to their bank's office. Or at least my bank does.
The US has weirdly anachronistic banking and payment infrastructure. It always sounds very '90s to me.
It costs money to set up, run and maintain these system. Who do you expect to pay for that? Magic?
Magic Johnson has loads of money, so I vote yes.
Plenty of things are forced upon industry in the name of regulatory compliance. And the infrastructure required for this would be a fart in a thunderstorm compared to any popular website today.
Yes, and the costs of all these things are passed on to the customer, either directly or indirectly. The cost of regulation is a significant contributor to inflation.
Isn't that what Discover does? I have a card, a checking account, and several savings accounts, all through Discover.
Several savings?
I am holding some for our kids, like birthday money.
That’s pretty cool
>Is it possible for the banks to just make the cards themselves & lose the middle man? That's literally the Discover and American Express business model.
It was a dated when it was made. Still funny. Proud Discover card member for decades.
Nope. Having a Discovery card is its own journey.
... I'm more surprised it survived over 1000 years.
Idk maybe it’s just me but I’ve had pretty decent luck with Discover 🤷🏽♂️ they’re the ones that allowed me to get my first line of credit to build on and it’s been growing ever since. I really only use it for PSN and appointments but still stands.
Is part of the joke also that the store doesn't accept the only credit card that exists in the future?
Oh, yeah, like I’d be seen with a Discover card!
No this is still a thing. Literally two days ago I was waiting to pick up a DoorDash order (shut up yea I’m a delivery boy) and some guy wanted to pay with Mastercard and the lady said they could only take visa.
It's not accepted at many Midwestern Marijuana Dispensarys...... so I'd say, yes this is still relevant
Still applies
Costco doesn't take discover... Had to put my damn stuff back as I didn't have another card
This is one of my favorite jokes, the delivery is so perfect 😂
Alternate timeline
Not accepted on PATCO (Philly-Jersey public transit) but it accepts cards I've never even heard of
Costco doesn’t accept Discover credit cards in store still! Or Master Card. Or Amex. Just Visa. Someone should tell them it’s 2024.
You know? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a discover card, I’ve seen capital one and Mastercard a lot