Many people have called Capital One the original fintech.
Founded in 1994 by Richard Fairbanks and Nigel Morris (of QED) Capital One broke new ground as a monoline credit card bank that married technology and data science before that was a thing in banking.
Fast forward 30 years and Capital One is a top 10 bank and one of the leading credit card issuers in the U.S. Now, it is looking to get even bigger with the announcement yesterday that it is planning to acquire Discover for $35 billion.
This will be an all-stock deal that values Discover at a 27% premium over its closing price on Friday. It would also give Capital One its own card network, providing opportunities that are currently only available to American Express.
It will also give Capital One an even larger credit card customer base.
Of course, this has to pass regulatory scrutiny before the deal can close but the commentary I was reading yesterday sees approval as being very likely.
Things are about to get even more interesting for payments networks.
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