Discover Financial Services

Discover misclassified about five million CONSUMER credit cards as commercial cards from 2007 to 2023 - seventeen years - which pushed those transactions into a higher interchange tier and overcharged merchants on affected sales. Many of those merchants were small family-owned businesses paying a surcharge on a mistake nobody told them about. The settlement is up to $1.225 billion, with payments increased pro rata until the class total reaches $540 million, a $10 minimum payment, and a claim deadline of May 18, 2026 (now passed); the final approval hearing was set for May 20, 2026 (entry of final approval and payment timing not verified as of Oct 2026). Discover's then-CEO Roger Hochschild said in July 2023 that the issue 'underscored deficiencies' in the company's corporate governance and risk management, and resigned in August 2023; Discover disclosed in October 2023 that it was cooperating with an SEC investigation. Capital One completed its $35.3 billion acquisition of Discover in May 2025 and began migrating debit transactions onto the Discover network - which is exempt from the Durbin Amendment interchange caps that bind Visa and Mastercard.

• Severity
• Evidence tierUnassigned
• Claims confirmed
• Last verified2026-08-04

Primary source. topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/closed-settlements/1-2b-discover-credit-card-merchant-interchange-fee-class-action-settlement/ — Verified - primary source confirmed.

Arbitration

Discover is REFERENCED (not a defendant) in the American Express anti-steering settlement above — Discover cardholders in Illinois are part of the compensable class in that case, but Discover itself is not accused of wrongdoing there. HISTORICALLY, Discover was itself a PLAINTIFF in a separate, earlier antitrust suit against Visa (alleging a Visa bylaw and Mastercard's 'CPP' policy improperly blocked banks from also issuing Discover cards, harming Discover's ability to compete) — a notable role-reversal where Discover was the one alleging harm from Visa/Mastercard's market practices, distinct from the merchant-driven interchange cases against Visa/Mastercard elsewhere in this tab.

Contacts

Privacy contact. Not recorded.

Legal notice. PUBLIC COMPANY (Non-public). Service route: c/o General Counsel / Corporate Secretary, Riverwoods, Illinois — the corporate address on the SEC Form 10-K cover page is the official address of record. Confirm the exact street address on the current 10-K at sec.gov/edgar, and check the state-of-incorporation registered agent (usually Delaware; most large filers use The Corporation Trust Company or Corporation Service Company) via the Secretary of State business-entity search. A registered agent MUST accept service, which is why it is the reliable channel when a company publishes no privacy address.

Mailing address. Not recorded.