Capital One Tests Moving Credit Cards to Discover Network

Capital One card purchase volume reached $253.8 billion, while legacy Discover purchase volume increased just under 2%. Capital One completed its debit conversion to the Discover network and is now testing Capital One credit cards on the network. Domestic card charge-offs and delinquencies declined as payment rates remained above pre-pandemic levels.

Capital One’s Discover integration dominated discussion during the second-quarter earnings call, alongside new initiatives, with the bank testing Capital One credit cards on the Discover network while continuing to spend on technology and artificial intelligence (AI).

The company’s results on Tuesday (July 21) indicated that credit card purchase volume totaled $253.8 billion, increasing 15% sequentially and 26% from a year earlier. The year-over-year comparison includes the effect of Discover, which was present for only part of the second quarter of 2025. Legacy Discover purchase volume increased just under 2% year over year. Purchase volume for legacy Capital One businesses, including Brex and the corporate card business transferred from commercial banking, increased about 14%. Management said most of that increase came from underlying organic growth. Card loan growth was more restrained. Legacy Discover card loans declined 1.5% from a year earlier, while ending loans excluding Discover increased about 5.3%. Chairman and CEO Richard Fairbank said Discover remains in what Capital One has called a “brownout” in loan growth during the integration. The company expects the constraint to continue for some time, although Fairbank said Capital One sees opportunities to increase Discover growth after the technology integration is completed. Shares were up 0.2% in after hours trading Tuesday.

Capital One has completed the conversion of its debit cards to the Discover network, and the second quarter included the full quarterly run rate of the associated debit revenue synergies. Global Payment Network transaction volume reached approximately $190 billion, up about 9% sequentially. The company is now testing credit card volume on the network. “We are leaning hard into right now testing originating legacy Capital One branded accounts on the Discover network as well as testing the conversion of existing Capital One accounts to the Discover network,” Fairbank told analysts during the call. Capital One has not announced how much credit card volume it will ultimately move or when. Fairbank said the company will make those decisions after evaluating the tests. Network acceptance is part of that work. Capital One is addressing remaining domestic acceptance gaps and increasing international acceptance, with particular attention to Mexico, the Caribbean, Canada and the United Kingdom, which Fairbank identified as the four leading international destinations for its customers.

Capital One is carrying out the Discover integration alongside continued investment in its broader technology infrastructure. Those investments continue to affect expenses. Domestic card non-interest expense increased 38% year over year, reflecting the addition of Discover as well as continuing technology investment. Commentary during the call indicated that Capital One has realized about one-third of the announced Discover operating-expense synergies and expects to achieve t...