<P> Discover is a credit card brand issued primarily in the United States . It was introduced by Sears in 1985 . When launched, Discover did not charge an annual fee and offered a higher - than - normal credit limit, features that were disruptive to the existing credit card industry . A subsequent innovation was "Cashback Bonus" on purchases . </P> <P> Most cards with the Discover brand are issued by Discover Bank, formerly the Greenwood Trust Company . Discover transactions are processed through the Discover Network payment network . In 2005, Discover Financial Services acquired Pulse, an electronic funds transfer network, allowing it to market and issue debit and ATM cards . In February 2006, Discover Financial Services announced that it would begin offering Discover Debit cards to other financial institutions, made possible by the acquisition of Pulse . </P> <P> Discover is the fourth largest credit card brand in the U.S., behind Visa, MasterCard and American Express, with nearly 44 million cardholders . </P> <P> At the time Discover was introduced, Sears was the largest retailer in the United States . It had purchased the Dean Witter Reynolds brokerage organization and Coldwell, Banker & Company (real estate) in 1981 as an attempt to add financial services to its portfolio of customer services . Ray Kennedy, Sr, father of country singer Ray Kennedy and the credit manager for Sears, conceived the card . Together with the Discover Card (and its issuing bank, the Greenwood Trust Company, owned by Sears), this was named the Sears Financial Network . Early Discover cards bore a small embossed symbol representing the Sears Tower, then the company's headquarters . </P>

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