Discover Financial Partners With NBO To Boost Card Acceptance

Discover Financial Service’s (NYSE:DFS) payments brand, Discover Global Network entered into an agreement with National Bank of Oman (NBO) to enhance acceptance for Discover, Diners Club International and affiliate network cards.

National Bank of Oman is one of the leading banks in Oman. Supported by corporate citizenship programs, the bank undertakes community improvement. It actively supports a range of worthy causes in Oman, emphasizing on health and human services, civic, education, environment, youth, women, arts and culture.

The agreement is intended to increase the number of places where the Discover Global Network cards can be accepted, specifically focusing on travel and entertainment merchants.

As a number of tourists travel from Europe and Russia, Oman is an important market for Discover, thus making the deal a strategic fit for the company. With this deal, the company intends to enhance the shopping experience for its cardholders.

As far as NBO is concerned, the partnership enables the tourists of Oman to shop at Duty Free stores and several leading hotels. In the near term, the terminals will be increased where the cards can be accepted to prominent the retail establishments.

Discover Financial Services is a direct banking and payment services company. It operates the Discover Global Network comprising Discover Network, with a number of merchant and cash access locations and Diners Club International, which is a global payments network with acceptance around the world.

Shares of this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) financial consumer loan industry player have rallied 6.1% in the past year, underperforming the industry’s increase of 13.7%.

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the same space are CURO Group Holdings Corp. (NYSE:CURO) , SLM Corp. (NASDAQ:SLM) and Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) . While CURO Group and SLM sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Ally Financial carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

CURO Group, SLM and Ally Financial surpassed estimates in each of the last four quarters, with average positive surprise of 16.40%, 10.67% and 3.64% respectively.

Biggest Tech Breakthrough in a Generation

Be among the early investors in the new type of device that experts say could impact society as much as the discovery of electricity. Current technology will soon be outdated and replaced by these new devices. In the process, it’s expected to create 22 million jobs and generate $12.3 trillion in activity.

A select few stocks could skyrocket the most as rollout accelerates for this new tech. Early investors could see gains similar to buying Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 1990s. Zacks’ just-released special report reveals 8 stocks to watch. The report is only available for a limited time.

See 8 breakthrough stocks now>>