In 17 years, Discover Financial never managed to clean up a billion dollar mess
By 
Aaron Nicodemus2025-07-08T19:50:00
Federal banking regulators have laid the blame for Discover Financial Services charging merchants $1 billion in excessive credit card fees over 17 years squarely at the feet of company executives.
Following a two-year investigation into the misconduct, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) ordered Discover to repay $1.2 billion in overcharges to merchants and fined it $150 million. The Federal Reserve Bank tacked on an additional $100 million fine.
The root of the problem, the banking regulators said, was that management at Discover failed to act even after regulators brought the issue to their attention following an FDIC examination in 2021.
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