Capital One vs Discover Financial Services: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Capital One reported $53.4B of revenue in FY2025 and $2.5B of net income. Discover Financial Services reported $17.9B of revenue in FY2024 and $4.5B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Capital One
- Latest revenue
- $53.4B (FY2025)
- Net income
- $2.5B
- Net margin
- 4.6%
- Revenue growth
- +8.6% a year, FY2016–FY2025
Discover Financial Services
- Latest revenue
- $17.9B (FY2024)
- Net income
- $4.5B
- Net margin
- 25.3%
- Revenue growth
- +12.7% a year, FY2020–FY2024
Financial summary
Capital One
Capital One reported total net revenue of $53.4 billion in 2025, up 37% from $39.1 billion in 2024, largely because Discover was consolidated from May 18, 2025. GAAP net income fell to $2.5 billion as merger accounting and roughly $20.7 billion of credit loss provisions weighed on the year. Results improved in 2026: Q2 2026 net income was $3.0 billion ($4.73 per diluted share; $5.81 adjusted) on $15.9 billion of revenue, with an 8.01% net interest margin and a CET1 ratio of about 13.7%.
Discover Financial Services
Discover's reported revenue net of interest expense rose from $11.1 billion in 2020 to $17.9 billion in 2024. Net income was $4.5 billion in 2024 ($17.72 per diluted share), helped by a $381 million gain on the sale of its private student loan portfolio, after falling to $2.8 billion in 2023 when credit costs rose and the card misclassification issue surfaced. Total loans ended 2024 at $121.1 billion, including $102.8 billion of card loans. Discover stopped filing standalone annual reports after the May 2025 acquisition; its results are now reported inside Capital One.
Revenue and profit by year
Capital One
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $53.4B | $2.5B | 4.6% | +36.6% | Source |
| FY2024 | $39.1B | $4.8B | 12.1% | +6.3% | Source |
| FY2023 | $36.8B | $4.9B | 13.3% | +7.4% | Source |
| FY2022 | $34.3B | $7.4B | 21.5% | +12.5% | Source |
| FY2021 | $30.4B | $12.4B | 40.7% | +6.7% | Source |
| FY2020 | $28.5B | $2.7B | 9.5% | -0.2% | Source |
| FY2019 | $28.6B | $5.5B | 19.4% | +1.8% | Source |
| FY2018 | $28.1B | $6B | 21.4% | +3.1% | Source |
| FY2017 | $27.2B | $2B | 7.3% | +6.8% | Source |
| FY2016 | $25.5B | $3.8B | 14.7% | — | Source |
Discover Financial Services
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 | $17.9B | $4.5B | 25.3% | +13.4% | Source |
| FY2023 | $15.8B | $2.8B | 17.7% | +19.5% | Source |
| FY2022 | $13.2B | $4.3B | 32.7% | +9.7% | Source |
| FY2021 | $12.1B | $5.4B | 45.0% | +8.7% | Source |
| FY2020 | $11.1B | $1.1B | 10.1% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Capital One
No segment breakdown is published.
Discover Financial Services
- Card loan net interest incomeMajority
Interest earned on credit card loans ($102.8 billion at year-end 2024) less deposit and funding costs.
- Personal loan interestMinority
Interest on unsecured personal loans.
- Discount, interchange and network feesMinority
Merchant discount and interchange on Discover cards plus PULSE and Diners Club processing fees.
Business model and strategy
Capital One
How it makes money
Capital One makes most of its money from net interest income: it gathers deposits through Capital One 360 accounts, branches and Cafés, then lends that money out through credit cards, auto loans and commercial loans at higher rates. Its edge is Information-Based Strategy, testing thousands of variations of rates, credit lines and rewards to price each offer to a customer's risk profile.
Growth strategy
Capital One's growth strategy rests on owning more of the payments stack. With Discover closed in May 2025, it is shifting its own debit and, over time, credit card volume onto the Discover and PULSE networks to keep network fees in-house and build global acceptance.
Competitive advantage
Capital One's primary competitive advantage is its historical obsession with data analytics and its highly modern, cloud-native IT infrastructure. They were the first large US bank to completely shut down their legacy, on-premise data centers and move their entire operation to the public cloud (AWS). This gives them a large technological edge over older banks stuck on 1970s mainframes;
Discover Financial Services
How it makes money
Discover makes money two ways. As a bank, it lends to consumers through Discover-branded credit cards and personal loans and earns net interest income on those balances, funded largely by online savings and CD deposits rather than branches. As a network, it earns discount and interchange revenue when merchants accept Discover cards and processing fees when banks route debit and ATM transactions over PULSE.
Growth strategy
Before the deal, Discover had pulled back on new account growth while it fixed compliance problems. Under Capital One the strategy has shifted to network scale: migrating Capital One debit cards to Discover (about 25 million done by mid-2026), testing Capital One credit cards on the network, and widening acceptance abroad.
Competitive advantage
Discover's advantage is ownership of payment rails. Very few US issuers control their own network, so Discover could keep merchant fees on its own card volume and offer network services to other banks through PULSE. Combined with low-cost online deposits and a no-annual-fee, cash back brand with US-based customer service, that made it a strategic target.
Questions about Capital One vs Discover Financial Services
Which company has higher revenue — Capital One or Discover Financial Services?
Capital One reported $53.4B (FY2025), while Discover Financial Services reported $17.9B (FY2024). By last reported revenue, Capital One is the larger business, with Discover Financial Services reporting a smaller revenue base. Note: these are from different fiscal years and are not a direct like-for-like comparison.
What is the market cap of Capital One vs Discover Financial Services?
Capital One's market capitalisation stands at $125.0B, while Discover Financial Services's is $51.8B. Capital One carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Discover Financial Services.
Which is more financially efficient — Capital One or Discover Financial Services?
Capital One generates $700k / employee in revenue per employee, while Discover Financial Services generates $853k / employee. Discover Financial Services shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Capital One and Discover Financial Services make money?
Capital One and Discover Financial Services generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Capital One: Capital One makes most of its money from net interest income: it gathers deposits through Capital One 360 accounts, branches and Cafés, then lends that money out through credit cards, auto loans and commercial loans at higher rates. Discover Financial Services: Discover makes money two ways.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Capital One or Discover Financial Services?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Capital One trades at 2.3x P/S and Discover Financial Services at 2.9x P/S. Discover Financial Services commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Capital One. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Capital One bigger than Discover Financial Services?
By last reported revenue, Capital One ($53.4B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Discover Financial Services ($17.9B (FY2024)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Capital One vs Discover Financial Services overview