Discover Global Network’s first-quarter results have revealed diverging performances between Diners Club and the Discover’s Network Partners.
Discover counts 25 third-party schemes such as SIBS and RuPay running over Discover rails when cards are used outside their home country. Network Partner volume fell 1% to $10.6 billion which is . the second successive quarter of falling volumes. The company gave little detail and attributed the disappointing result to “lower transaction volumes.” .
Diners Club, which is still largely a series of national franchises, saw a 28% increase in volume, totalling $9.2 billion, driven by improved global travel and entertainment (T&E) and corporate spending. This has been a clear trend since Covid restrictions began to lift.
Diane Offereins, the Executive Vice President of Payment Services at Discover, who played a pivotal role in expanding the company’s global acceptance network, has retired after a 25-year tenure with the company. Jason Hanson who has previously served at FIS/Worldpay and McKinsey, will now take over the reins.
With new leadership at the helm, I’d expect that Discover will undertake a review of the operations of Discover Global Network. The company has built a worldwide acceptance network with great potential but which, today is rather underutilised.
