Discover Financial Services is partnering with the operator of Puerto Rico’s ATM and debit network as part of the payment card company’s ongoing effort to increase acceptance abroad by teaming with local networks.
The deal will allow banks participating on Puerto Rico’s ATH PIN-debit network to issue Discover cards with point-of-sale signature debit. The deal will increase Discover’s acceptance in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean and expand use of the ATH debit cards with signature functionality worldwide, wherever Discover and Diners Club International cards are accepted (
“We get improved acceptance in Puerto Rico and Caribbean, and they get increased acceptance and utility internationally for their members,” Diane Offereins, executive vice president and president of Discover's payment services unit, said in a March 21 interview. “We had pretty good acceptance in Puerto Rico already, but the deal does enhance that and helps us fill in some gaps in the Caribbean,”
She would not disclose the financial terms of the deal.
Discover finalized a similar network-partnership deal with India’s RuPay network earlier this month (
Going forward, more deals of this type could be in the offing, Offereins says.
“We’ve got a fair amount of momentum, and we’re clearly open for business,” she says, noting “there are a number of networks out there that are paying a lot of attention to the deals we’ve done.”
Processing company Evertec Inc. owns and operates the ATH debit-payment and ATM network.
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