Discover® Increases Profitability Among VARs And Their Merchant Clients
By Gerry Wagner, Vice President, Discover Network
With numerous global partnerships and a host of tools for marketing to merchants, Discover is uniquely positioned to help VARs expand.
Since its 1986 launch, Discover has become the fastestgrowing credit card network in the U.S. It is now at near-parity with Visa® and MasterCard® in most business sectors, and is aggressively pursuing international expansion. In 2008, Discover acquired Diners Club International®, and since then has also signed partnership agreements with UnionPay, Mainland China’s only card network, as well as with Japan’s JCB, South Korea’s BCcard, and Serbia’s DinaCard. These partnerships allow all of Discover’s partner cards to be processed on its network, helping to increase sales volume for Discover and merchants who accept it. Continued growth is on the horizon, as Discover expects to sign more global partnership agreements within the next year.
Why should you offer Discover as part of your merchant enablement services?
Accepting Discover is key for your merchants, because it has the potential to improve customer satisfaction and increase sales volume. Discover is the #1 card in customer loyalty, with cardmembers who spend more per month than Visa and MasterCard cardholders. And through our multiple global partnerships, Discover gives merchants the opportunity to capture a portion of this growing tourism revenue.
Why should you inform your clients that they can accept Discover’s global partners?
Accepting our partner cards allows merchants to profit from U.S. tourism spending. Discover’s partnerships with UnionPay, JCB, and BCcard enable merchants to serve some of the largest and fastest-growing U.S. tourist populations, and Diners Club acceptance can help them gain revenue from affluent corporate and consumer travelers. Discover’s worldwide cardmember base accounted for over $100 billion in sales volume last year, and accepting all the Discover IIN ranges will help merchants tap into their share of those sales.
How can Discover help VARs attract more cardmembers for their merchants?
You can order free signage for distribution to your merchants online at DiscoverSignage.com. You and your merchants can get up-to-date free signage and business supplies including check presenters, tip trays, mouse pads, decals, and more. When merchants display Discover signage, cardmembers are more likely to present their Discover or partner network cards for purchases. You can be a valuable contributor to your merchants by participating in this service.
Why is it important for your clients to update their payment systems?
Up-to-date payment systems allow merchants to better serve customers by ensuring that every customer’s card of choice can be processed. Updates also help protect transaction data and maintain PCI compliance.
How is Discover helping VARs enable more merchants for full card acceptance and PCI compliance?
Discover is offering you the opportunity to participate in the Terminal Trade-Up program — This program provides you incentives to replace noncompliant POS terminals with new terminals or complete application downloads. This ensures that merchant POS systems are able to support all Discover IIN ranges and are PCI compliant. In addition to the Terminal Trade-Up program, which will enable more of your merchants to accept all Discover IIN ranges, Discover helps you offer marketing assistance that will drive additional sales volume for you and your merchants.
How can you participate in the Terminal Trade-Up program?
For more information on how you can participate in the Terminal Trade-Up program, call (800) 951-0633 or email us at VARconnection@Discover.com.
Contact Information
Discover Financial Services
2500 Lake Cook Road
Riverwoods, IL 60015
(800) 951-0633
VARconnection@Discover.com