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A logo for Ebay Inc.'s PayPal unit is seen outside the company's offices in Dubin, Ireland, on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012. Ireland will give a tax break to ''key'' overseas workers who are assigned to work in the country, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said in an e-mailed statement. Photograph: Aidan Crawley/Bloomberg
Aidan Crawley/Bloomberg

PayPal

Discover's deal to handle point of sale payments for the PayPal digital wallet puts it in a prominent position. The more momentum PayPal gets, the more Discover benefits. (Image: Bloomberg News)
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A jogger passes Google Inc. sign at the headquarters in Mountain View, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010. Google, owner of the world's most popular search engine, said third-quarter profit increased as businesses spent more on advertising for online consumers. Photographer: Tony Avelar/Bloomberg
Tony Avelar/Bloomberg

Google

Shortly after Google eased the process for participating in its mobile wallet, Discover got on board. It remains one of only two issuers to support the Google Wallet. (Image: Bloomberg News)
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Isis

When the major carriers announced their own mobile wallet in 2010, Discover was already a participant, focused on enabling merchant acceptance for the Isis wallet. Barclaycard US was the first Isis issuer.
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Pins in Map
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Global Growth

As digital-wallet providers such as PayPal plan to take their offerings overseas, Discover is planning to meet them there. This month, Discover announced its first issuer in Europe, Russian Standard Bank. (Image: ThinkStock)
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Cannibalization

Discover is forging ahead with these initiatives even though they may not be healthy for its current offerings. Though the PayPal pact could cannibalize payments over its Pulse network, the deal is seen as good overall for Discover… (Image: ThinkStock)
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Origami Money Bird
Chris Titze/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Lost Opportunity?

…but perhaps there is a role for Pulse that Discover is overlooking. Fiserv's Accel/Exchange network and First Data's Star network have links to electronic and mobile payment systems, which rely on the debit networks to speed up payments. Discover could do the same for PayPal. (Image: ThinkStock)
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American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa credit cards are displayed for a photograph in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, May 18, 2010. Credit-card firms caught off-guard by U.S. Senate passage of curbs on debit fees are facing what one executive sees as a "volcanic" eruption of legislation, including possible limits on interest rates. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Four's a Crowd

Isis has yet to launch, and it has already signed deals with Discover's major rivals: Visa, MasterCard and American Express. Isis explained that getting all four networks on board is an "important element," necessary to expand "the potential pool of issuers" that can participate in its mobile wallet. (Image: Bloomberg News)
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Marketing Muzzle

Discover has had some brilliant marketing in recent years – notably, its mascot Peggy the unhelpful (and bearded) customer service worker – but its ads place little emphasis on the network's role with the major mobile wallets. If consumers don't know what Discover is doing, is Discover losing a chance to win their business?

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