Capital One’s merger with Discover Financial Services in a $35 billion deal was approved by the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
The merger’s approval will likely encourage more deals, which was predicted due to President Donald Trump’s largely friendly nature toward business consolidation.
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“Our sense was that several executives were watching how the Capital One-Discover process transpired,” said Barclays analyst Jason Goldberg, suggesting financial leaders have been eager to see how the Trump administration responded to mergers.
The all-stock deal was announced more than a year ago and would lead Capital One to have more than $650 billion in assets. Capital One said it expects to close the deal by May.
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Discover, which caters to customers with subprime credit scores in the 600s range, will likely see an increase in merchant acceptance rates. However, there’s also concern that customers could face higher credit card interest rates.
As part of the deal, Capital One will have to comply with Discover’s consent order, where the company was given a $100 million penalty “for overcharging certain interchange fees from 2007 through 2023.” The company is repaying those fees to the affected customers.