Discover Financial Expands Global Presence With NAPAS Deal

Discover Financial Services’ (NYSE:DFS) affiliate DFS Services LLC recently collaborated with National Payments Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS). Per the agreement, NAPAS Global Cards will be accepted outside Vietnam on the Discover Global Network, including Discover Network, Diners Club International and PULSE. The deal will also make the Discover, Diners Club and affiliate network cards accepted on the NAPAS network in Vietnam.

Per the deal, the member banks will start issuing NAPAS Global Cards as part of Discover’s Global card program. NAPAS will be issuing the cards on their domestic network, while Discover Global Network will ensure global acceptance of the cards.

The Discover Global Network comprises 42 million merchant acceptance locations and more than 1.9 million ATM cash access locations across 185 countries and territories. The network involves several partnerships in China, Europe, India, Japan, the Middle East, Puerto Rico, Serbia, South Korea and Turkey, among others.

Discover Financial is one of the major card issuers in the United States and a leading innovator in the credit card industry. The company continues to sign alliances in order to maintain its leading position in existing markets as well as expand global presence. In the last six months, the shares of the company have gained 25.5%, outperforming the industry’s rally of 14.5%.

Meanwhile, NAPAS works through an inter-bank connection system for its 46 member banks in Vietnam. This deal with Discover Financial is likely to help NAPAS expand its card payment services and establish its NAPAS card brand with global acceptance.

Discover Financial has expressed its interest to partner with NAPAS, given its operational strength,the growing economy and rising level of disposable income in Vietnam. In 2017, Vietnam witnessed a heavy influx of tourist, primarily traveling for leisure and personal purposes.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Discover Financial carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Investors interested in the Payments space can also consider companies like Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT) , Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) and Visa Inc (NYSE:V) . While Green Dot sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), the other two stocks carry Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Green Dot has delivered positive surprises in all of the last four quarters, with an average beat of 27%.

Western Union has delivered positive surprises in three of the last four quarters, with an average beat of 9.1%.

Visa has delivered positive surprises in each of the last four quarters, with an average beat of 8.1%.

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