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Discover company history timeline

1985

In 1985 Discover was launched with no annual fee and offered a higher-than-normal credit limit.

In 1985, Sears also acquired the Greenwood Trust Company.

1986

Discover Financial Services was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Riverwoods, IL.“

The Discover card was launched in 1986 by Sears and Roebuck which was, at that time, the biggest retailer in the United Sates.

1993

Sears sold its financial businesses in 1993, and began to accept MasterCard and Visa in addition to its store credit card and the Discover Card.

1995

In 1995, Discover Card Services, Inc. changed its name to NOVUS Services, Inc. to distinguish its network functions from the Discover Card.

1997

In 1997, this company merged with investment banking house Morgan Stanley to become Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Discover & Co.

2000

In 2000, Greenwood Trust changed its name to Discover Bank

2004

In 2004, the Supreme Court ruled in Discover’s favor and against these exclusionary policies by Visa and Mastercard, and Discover filed suit seeking damages against the two companies.

2005

In April 2005, Morgan Stanley announced that it would divest Discover Financial Services as an independent company within six months.

2008

In 2008, Discover Financial Services took over the Diners Club network, purchasing it from Citigroup for 165 million dollars.

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Founded
1985
Company founded
Headquarters
Riverwoods, IL
Company headquarter
Founders
Sears
Company founders
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Discover competitors

Company nameFounded dateRevenueEmployee sizeJob openings
Mastercard1966$1.8T25,000622
Bank of America1998$85.5B200,0006,045
Capital One1994$26.0B51,9856,212
Fifth Third Bank1858$7.7T19,8461,178
American Express1850$36.1B63,7001,127
HSBC Bank1880$5.2B15,650121
Commerce Bank1865$1.4B4,766131
Citi1812$74.3B210,0001,361
Synchrony Financial2003$14.8B16,50090
JPMorgan Chase & Co.2000$2.4B255,35112,572

Discover history FAQs

Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Discover, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Discover. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Discover. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Discover. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Discover and its employees or that of Zippia.

Discover may also be known as or be related to Discover, Discover Financial Services and Discover Products Inc.