Capital One just bought Discover. Here's what it means for their customers.

Shubhangi Goel

Mon, May 19, 2025, 1:22 PM 4 min read

• On Sunday, Capital One acquired Discover Financial, becoming the sixth-largest US bank by assets.

• Online-focused Discover stands to gain a big physical footprint from the deal.

• A pair of top Democrats warned last month that the deal could spell trouble for customers.

Capital One has acquired Discover Financial, becoming the sixth-largest bank in the US by asset size.

In an earnings call last month, Capital One's CEO, Richard Fairbank, said the goal was to "preserve the best" of what Discover does, such as its advertising and focus on customer experiences.

Capital One's $35.3 billion acquisition of Discover was first announced in February 2024.

The deal was approved by regulators last month, despite pushback from top Democrats and consumer advocates who raised concerns about lower competition and risks to low-income customers and those with poor credit scores.

Representatives of Capital One and Discover didn't respond to a request for comment. On Monday, both banks said that "customer accounts and banking relationships remain unchanged" at this time.

Here's what customers of each of the two companies stand to gain and lose from the deal.

A much bigger Capital One could mean more products, but some Democrats have warned of higher fees.

Capital One previously said the merger would increase competition with the transaction giants Visa, Mastercard, and American Express and improve access for lower-income customers.

In a white paper published in July, four economists and lawyers at the International Center for Law & Economics wrote that the merger might finally end the Visa and MasterCard "duopoly."

They added that the merger would let Capital One switch its debit cards to Discover's payment networks, and it might offer "more attractive products to depositors." This could include free checking accounts with no minimum balance rules and debit cards with cash back for lower-income customers.

Cost savings and other benefits from the acquisition could also make Capital One a stronger competitor to "behemoths such as JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, and Bank of America," the ICLE group wrote.

The merger doesn't appear to mean any big immediate changes. Discover has said accounts aren't linked to the new corporate owner, so Capital One branches and customer service can't help with Discover products.

Eventually, Discover customers may have greater access to the bank through Capital One's branches and ATMs. Right now, Discover has just one physical outpost in Delaware.