Capital One, Discover merger gets key approvals, paving way for a new biggest US credit card issuer [View all]

Source: Yahoo! Finance

Fri, April 18, 2025 at 12:19 PM EDT


Capital One’s (COF) $35 billion purchase of Discover (DFS) just got the green light from key regulators, paving the way for the formation of the biggest credit card company in the US.

Two regulators responsible for the deal's approval — the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) — said Friday that they had approved the transaction, based on the companies meeting a few final conditions. "This approval is granted based on a thorough review of all information available," said a letter from the OCC's Large Bank Licensing office. The Fed and OCC said in separate statements that they concluded the merger is consistent with their statutory merger approval rules.

Specifically, the regulators found that combining the two companies would not substantially lessen competition, jeopardize the convenience and needs of the communities either of the banks serve, reduce the effectiveness of either institution’s ability to combat money laundering, or bring more risk to the banking and wider US financial system. The OCC said in its statement that it concluded the merger is consistent with rules laid out in the Bank Merger Act.

Approval of the merger also came with a consent order with Discover and a $100 million fine for overcharging customers certain interchange fees from 2007 through 2023. Discover has since terminated these practices and is repaying those fees to affected customers, the Fed said.

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/capital-one-discover-merger-gets-key-approvals-paving-way-for-a-new-biggest-us-credit-card-issuer-161905719.html