At the beginning of June, Diners Club International, a business unit of Discover Financial Services, signed an agreement with Barclaycard Global Payment Acceptance, which allows merchants using Barclaycard's payment acquiring services to accept Discover and Diners Club cards. For those who have Diners Club and Discover cards, this means their cards will be accepted at more places around the world.
Barclaycard is a U.K.-based global payment business that operates in the U.S., Europe and Africa. It has over 89,000 merchants encompassing small, medium and large businesses, in its payment network and is one of Europe's largest payment acceptance providers.
"With our increasingly global economy, businesses of all sizes want to offer the widest possible range of payment methods. As one of the largest payment processors in the U.K., this new agreement between Barclaycard and Diners Club International will allow our merchants to take payment from a wider range of overseas customers," says Paulette Rowe, managing director of Barclaycard Global Payment Acceptance, in a statement. "Whether you run a small online shop or a global retail chain, accepting the widest possible range of payments will mean more choice for customers and more opportunities for businesses."
"Diners Club International and Discover Network cards already are accepted at millions of merchant locations worldwide, and this agreement with Barclaycard will increase our presence in the U.K., a key tourist destination for our cardmembers," says Gerry Wagner, VP of global acceptance for Discover Financial Services, in a statement. "Not only will our cardmembers benefit from this increased acceptance, but Barclaycard Global Payment Acceptance merchants will find it easier to accept Discover Network and Diners Club International cards as method of payment, both in person and online."
Barclaycard will make this service a standard part of its payments processing services portfolio starting in early 2015. In the meantime, Discover says its Discover Network and Diners Club International cards are currently accepted in more than 185 countries around the world. The cards are accepted at retailers where you see Discover and Diners Club International logos. Additionally, in Japan, a JCB logo indicates Discover acceptance, while in Mainland China, the China Union Pay label also does. The same goes for Link in the U.K. PULSE ATMs accept Discover cards for cash advances and require a PIN set up through a Discover account. Discover also encourages its cardholders to ask the retailer if it accepts Discover cards, as not all retailers display the decals of the credit cards they accept.
Although Discover is accepted in eight regions around the world, including countries in Central America, South America, Eurasia and Europe, it isn't accepted everywhere. For example, only two countries in Africa--Morocco and South Africa--accept the card. Many European countries, including France, the Netherlands and Greece also do not take the card.
The company is working growing its worldwide acceptance network and plans to expand acceptance into Germany, Ireland, Montenegro, Serbia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the Northern Mariana Islands and Palau.
While Discover is still growing its international network, it hopes that it can become a bigger player in the international arena. One incentive it offers cardholders for using Discover abroad is that it doesn't charge foreign currency transaction fees.
Cardholders who rely heavily on their Discover card should check the card's international credit card usage section of its website before traveling to another part of the world to see whether or not they'll be able to use the card overseas. Discover also asks cardholders to call Discover and let them know of international travel plans prior to the trip to prevent services from being interrupted.
