Capital One Financial and Discover Financial Services are scheduled to merge on May 18, 2025. This merger was originally announced in February 2024. The merger has been approved by the Delaware State Bank Commissioner and the Federal Reserve. It has also been approved by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Shareholders of the financial entities approved the merger by vote.
Some worry about the impact the merger may have on the financial institutions’ consumers. For instance, there is concern that credit card rates may go up. On the other hand, potential benefits to the merger have also been discussed. For example, the merger may lead to a marketing emphasis on no-fee, no-minimum checking accounts.
Details of the Merger of Capital One and Discover
There are plans for a merger between these two financial services organizations. CNBC states: “Discover shareholders will receive 1.092 Capital One shares for each Discover share.” Sixty percent of the merged company will be held by Capital One shareholders. Forty percent will be held by Discover shareholders.
In February 2024, an initial announcement about the upcoming merger was made. Â The Delaware State Bank Commissioner provided approval for the merger in December 2024. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved the merger in April 2025. Approval was also given by the Federal Reserve at this time. In addition, shareholders of both companies voted to approve the merger.
Significance of the Merger
U.S. News and World Report comments on the significance of this merger. The news organization states the merger will form “the largest credit issuer in the U.S.” There are experts who view the merger as potentially beneficial. A possible benefit mentioned is an increase in fraud protection. However, there are those with concerns about the merger. One worry is that it could be detrimental to the customers of the institutions involved.
How Consumers May Be Impacted
Customers of the merging financial services entities may wonder how the merger may affect them. The U.S. News and World Report website provides advice. The website explains that there are three main areas of interest to account holders. The first area of focus is possible changes to credit card costs. There is worry about a possible increase in rates related to credit cards. However, there is also speculation that this may not happen. Raising rates would be neither attractive to customers nor advantageous to the merged business.
Another topic of interest to consumers may be debit card rewards. While many financial institutions have stopped offering reward debit cards, Discover still has them. After the merger, Capital One plans to use Discover’s debit card network. Therefore, reward debit card offerings may increase. A third area of discussion is how the merger will affect the two institutions’ payment networks. Capital One has been using networks that process Visa and Mastercard. Discover has a separate network that is accepted at fewer places internationally. Neither network charges international transaction fees.
The website also explains that a benefit of the merger could relate to no-fee checking. The site states: “The merger could boost that product.” Both of the merging institutions offer checking accounts with no fees. The checking accounts offered also have no requirements for a minimum balance. Accounts like these are appealing but not universally offered. The merger could be an opportunity to increase marketing of such accounts to interested customers.
Projected Date for the Merger
CNBC reports that the two involved financial institutions have provided a projected merger date. There has been an official press release put out on the topic. The press release states the merger “is expected to close on May 18, 2025. ” The press release stipulates closing is “subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions.”
