

Customs Service to pay customs duty, effective February 19, 1987. Discover was also noteworthy for being the only credit card accepted by the U.S. Cardholders could also earn a "Cashback Bonus", in which a percentage of the amount spent would be refunded to the account (from 1% to 5%), depending on how much the card was used. It carried no annual fee, which was uncommon at the time, and offered a typically higher credit limit than similar cards.

Unlike other attempts at creating a credit card to rival MasterCard and Visa, such as Citibank's Choice card, Discover gained a large national consumer base. The Novus logo was retired, replaced by the Discover Network logo.ĭiscover and Novus retired acceptance mark (still seen in many places) Novus was once the major processing center that partnered with the company. Early Discover Cards bore a small embossed symbol representing the Sears Tower, then the company's headquarters.ĭiscover was part of Dean Witter, and then Morgan Stanley, until 2007, when Discover Financial Services became an independent company. Together with the Discover Card (and its issuing bank, the Greenwood Trust Company, owned by Sears), this was named the Sears Financial Network. Merin, the company's senior vice president for corporate administration and manager of financial analysis, respectively.
Discovery card trial#
After a trial period in 1985, starting with a $26.77 purchase at an Atlanta Sears on September 17, the actual launch was pushed through by Philip J. Ray Kennedy, Sr, father of country singer Ray Kennedy and the credit manager for Sears, conceived the card. It had purchased the Dean Witter Reynolds brokerage organization and Coldwell, Banker & Company (real estate) in 1981 as an attempt to add financial services to its portfolio of customer services. Īt the time Discover was introduced, Sears was the largest retailer in the United States. based on the number of cards in circulation, behind Visa and Mastercard, with 57 million cardholders. ĭiscover is the third largest credit card brand in the U.S. In February 2006, Discover Financial Services announced that it would begin offering Discover debit cards to other financial institutions, made possible by the acquisition of Pulse. In 2005, Discover Financial Services acquired Pulse, an electronic funds transfer network, allowing it to market and issue debit and ATM cards. Discover transactions are processed through the Discover Network payment network. Most cards with the Discover brand are issued by Discover Bank, formerly the Greenwood Trust Company. A subsequent innovation was "Cashback Bonus" on purchases. When launched, Discover did not charge an annual fee and offered a higher-than-normal credit limit, features that were disruptive to the existing credit card industry. Discover is a credit card brand issued primarily in the United States.
