Capital One is attempting to buy Discover does that matter for you?
It also matters to the corporations that make money off the credit extended to those people.
Capital One and Discover cards would continue to be issued and Discover would remain its own brand.
However, the merger would reduce the number of companies offering expansive lines of credit.
Less competition can translate to higher interest rates for consumers.
So customers could have more banking products and services available to them.
However, Capital One buying Discover is not a done deal.
Probably not as good as youd like.
It always seems like an uphill battle to build (and keep) a decent amount in savings.
But what if your car breaks down, or you have a sudden medical bill?
The current climate among them is to carefully examine large transactions among financial institutions.
One hitch in the deal is that Capital One and Discover are not bank-owned credit companies.
They are pure credit card companies that have expanded into banking services.
That status could raise the ire of the banking industry and its powerful lobbying machinery.
Unless and until Capital One buying Discover goes through, the average consumer likely wont be affected.
Did you know?
But Capital One benefits from one of the most expansive reward programs in the field.
That entices high-end consumers looking to take advantage of their extensive spending habits.
Discover, too, has a popular reward program for its largely penny-pinching, perhaps overextended, clientele.
Discover has more than 60 million cardholders, while Capital One has more than 44 million accounts.
The one characteristic that holds back the Discover Card is that fewer firms accept that card as payment.
The merger would likely improve Discovers appeal among producers.
The Stakes
Credit card balances have climbed to noticeable heights.
Bankrate estimates that almost 50% of consumers carry a credit card balance month over month.
The bottom line is: nothing will change for the companies customers until the merger goes through.
Kent McDill is a veteran journalist who has specialized in personal finance topics since 2013.
He is a contributor to The Penny Hoarder.
(Can you sense my millennial sarcasm there?)
You know which ones were talking about: rent, utilities, cell phone bill, insurance, groceries…
