Capital One, Discover Merger Could Cause Travel Payment Issues

Consumers accustomed to swiping their Capital One cards during overseas travels could face issues once the credit card giant transitions its network to Discover.

Currently, Capital One’s card payments are processed on networks operated by Visa and Mastercard. After the acquisition of Discover was approved in December by the Office of the Delaware State Bank Commissioner, Capital One said it plans to move its payments processing to Discover’s rails.

This change is unlikely to have a significant impact in the U.S., where Discover’s network is nearly as ubiquitous as Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. However, Discover is far less common outside the U.S, potentially causing  payment processing issues for U.S. travelers using Capital One cards abroad.

Forging Ahead

Despite these hurdles, Capital One is forging ahead with plans to move all its debit cards and some of its credit cards to Discover’s network as early as Q2 2025….