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Discover Financial Services' partnership with the Belgian processor Trionis adds to a string of deals this year that have raised Discover's international profile, reports CardLine Global sister publication Cards&Payments. The partnership with Trionis, announced last week, will enable Discover and Diners Club cardholders to use at least 74,000 ATMs in Europe (CardLine Global, 11 Sept.) Discover struck similar deals last month in Canada and India. And in March, Multipay AG, a Swiss processor, agreed to handle Diners Club and Discover credit card transactions. Discover has become more of an international name, analysts say. "The goal Discover has been aiming for is to create a true global acceptance footprint and with these recent agreements, Discover's various card brands gain a lot more utility and value to cardholders," says David Lott, a senior vice president with Atlanta-based consulting firm Speer & Associates Inc. Discover, which bought Diners Club International from Citigroup Inc. for US$165 million (112.3 million euros) last year, also says it is using its Pulse debit network to boost acceptance for both its card brands. The agreements build on card-acceptance deals Discover forged in Asia, says David R. Schneider, Pulse president. Discover cards are accepted in China as part of a reciprocal agreement signed in 2005 with China UnionPay, the country's only bankcard network. Pulse agreed to handle transactions for UnionPay cards in the United States, and Discover cardholders can use their cards at UnionPay's 365,000 merchant locations and 80,000 ATMs in China. In 2006, Morgan Stanley, Discover's then-owner, signed a reciprocal acceptance agreement with JCB Co., Japan's largest issuer. The goal of the Trionis deal is "to continue to expand global cash access and acceptance" of Discover's card brands, a Discover spokesperson says, declining to say whether the company is laying the groundwork for wider issuance abroad of Discover and Diners Club credit cards and Pulse-branded debit cards. Discover has a long way to go before it can match Visa Inc. or MasterCard Worldwide in global card acceptance, Lott says. Discover may gain further international clout through similar deals with other regional payments networks, he says. "The benefits for Discover in expanding acceptance for its cards at the point of sale and at ATMs around the world are obvious–it's a big selling point for the card," Lott says. "For regional payment networks like those it signed [deals with] recently, it's additional incremental revenue."
