Morgan Stanley credit card unit Discover Financial Services is to take on Visa and MasterCard's strongholds in signature debit provision with the launch of Discover Debit.
Discover Debit is the first new signature debit programme to be offered to financial institutions since a Department of Justice ruling in October cleared the way for Visa and MasterCard banks to offer additional services from competing brands.
The launch also follows Discover Financial Services' acquisition of the Pulse ATM/debit network in January 2005, its strategic alliance with China UnionPay and multiple agreements with third-party credit and stored value issuers announced in 2005.
David Nelms, chairman and chief executive officer of Discover Financial Services says the company will bid to break Visa and MasterCard's stranglehold on the market by offering clear, fully disclosed pricing, less complicated billing and straight-forward operating regulations and dispute rules.
The network will support two cards - for individuals and businesses - and offer pro-active fraud prevention tools and zero liability for individual cardholders. The cards will be accepted at four million merchant and cash access locations.
The roll-out of the service is being supported a by a number of third party payment processors, including NetSpend Corp., Elan Financial Services, Central National Bank & Trust Company of Enid (Oklahoma) and Jack Henry & Associates.