Discover Financial Services' chief executive officer, David Nelms, said his company is "unlikely" to convert into a bank holding company, as American Express Co. has done.
"Most of our activities are already in a regulated bank," Mr. Nelms told analysts Tuesday at a banking and financial services conference in New York sponsored by Merrill Lynch & Co.
The Riverwoods, Ill., card company has access to government programs through its bank unit, he said.