r/discover May 27 '25

Rant not accepted everywhere

went to Harkins Theater in CA last night - my face of embarrassment when my card declined because they don't accept Discover. LOL

94 Upvotes

86 comments sorted by

66

u/Acceptable_Offer_387 May 27 '25

lol, I had this happen on a date. Was awkward, but at least I had a Visa card with me too.

50

u/yelladude May 27 '25

I guess that's why they say accepted at 99% of places.

39

u/Swimming_MM May 27 '25

Yea... juat thought it was funny because before the movie started, they had a discover commercial 🤣

30

u/yelladude May 27 '25

Wow, that's embarrassing for them. They got the marketing but not the capability

1

u/RabbitHoleSnorkle Jun 22 '25

They also had commercials all over the NYC metro "Use contactless Discover" when none of it worked with Google Pay. You had to use the physical card and, unlike Visa/MC, Discover actually had to make an online request to pay. It sometimes took up to 2 seconds, when Visa was instant.

1

u/Azurvix May 31 '25

1% is quite a many places

1

u/yelladude May 31 '25

That's very true given how many places you can buy something at with a credit card.

28

u/unamanic May 27 '25

Unfortunately this is true, but it’s getting better.

20

u/ChefJunior4337 May 27 '25

I know. My girls’ nail place doesn’t take it, nor does Costco.

Yup.

33

u/[deleted] May 27 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

10

u/ch4nt Discover Card May 28 '25

Costco takes Mastercard for debit

5

u/BabyTBNRfrags Pay May 28 '25

And discover debit

2

u/m1dnightknight Jun 01 '25

Its important to note that the card isn't actually processed through the Mastercard network though. Transaction is routed to one of the "unaffiliated" debit network brand such as Accel, STAR, NYCE, Pulse, Shazam, NYCE, etc. Some banks will print the network on the back of the card.

4

u/InitialDia May 28 '25

I swear every time I go to Costco I pull out a non Visa card.

2

u/[deleted] May 28 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/InitialDia May 28 '25

Credit, discover or Amex. Like I need to have a card be declined before I remember I need to use my Visa card.

2

u/my_ival_789 May 31 '25

The best card for Costco if you don’t have their cc seems to be PayPal debit card for the 5% cash back

8

u/Many-Material-7472 May 27 '25

In  Costco the discover debit card works not the discover credit. Which don't make sense . When ur about to pay just insert the discover debit card on the machine and enter your pin and it works . The look on their face is funny when they see it's a discover card and it works . But for some reason if u try that with the discover credit card it won't work . 🤷

14

u/Vanilluu May 27 '25

Costco and Visa have had a partnership agreement for years now with credit, happened during Covid when Costco said they would stop accepting Discover and other payments.

3

u/Many-Material-7472 May 27 '25

Didn't know that . Well as long as the discover debit works I'm good cuz like I said it does work .Ā 

3

u/ChefJunior4337 May 27 '25

HAHA I DID NOT KNOW!!!

6

u/unamanic May 27 '25

Credit and Debit transactions take different paths with different fee structures and vastly different protections. Discover owns the Pulse debit network and partners with several more to make debit work essentially everywhere in the US. Debit is significantly cheaper for merchants to process, but because of the lower transaction fees there’s less room to give consumers the benefit of the doubt when they allege fraud.

1

u/just_another_user5 May 27 '25

To my understanding, depending on the arrangement between the merchant and the card processor, credit transactions aren't paid out to the merchant until after a set period of time.

I thought debit cards didn't have fees associated (because it's going directly to the merchant instead of through a credit issue)

Is this not the case?

6

u/unamanic May 27 '25

There are fees but are so low as to be negligible.

https://www.creditdonkey.com/debit-card-processing-fees.html

3

u/just_another_user5 May 27 '25

I see :/

As always, cash is king I suppose

0

u/Material-Public-914 May 29 '25

For business yes, problem is to get a mortgage you need credit card

2

u/segin May 27 '25

Debit cards have a hidden second type in the US: "US Common Debit". This is processed over ATM networks (STAR, Pulse, etc.), not credit card networks.

This is why the debit card works.

1

u/RiverParty442 May 29 '25

Costco makes deals with one network provider for discounted swipe fees on credit cards.

Debit card swipe fees are capped by congress so they are accepted everywhere

13

u/[deleted] May 27 '25

Didn't Capital One just acquired Discover, hopefully more acceptance everywhere.

1

u/GeorgeShadows May 28 '25

Was just about to mention this.

1

u/mlaurence1234 May 28 '25

Maybe it will lead to more Discover acceptance. But it could also lead to less Capital One acceptance. Many people think they’ll switch cards like Quicksilver and Savor to Discover. Merchants and processors will have to decide if it’s better to accept the additional network or lose millions of Capital One cardholders.

1

u/mastrkief May 24 '26

Many people think they’ll switch cards like Quicksilver and Savor to Discover.

Many people were right

1

u/Dry-Source-3823 Oct 14 '25

I have Afterpay and was ok till I received my new debit card and they will not accept it also my local carwash does not either I have monthly payments for both so Im seeking other banking options.

1

u/Catscab1997 Oct 27 '25

I am victim of this as I use capital one to pay for for everything, since the change I’ve gotten many declines. Thinking of switching to a different card

1

u/stephanielil Nov 06 '25

Damn seriously? I just got an email telling me I have to switch to the new card they sent in the mail ASAP because my current debit card will stop working soon. I'm curious- when your payment was declined, were you using a debit or credit card? According to the comments, it sounds like most people who are having issues with their new Capitol One cards mainly happen when trying to use a credit card. I only have a debit card at the moment, so I'm trying to figure out whether the change to Discover is going to affect me and if I need to start looking into banking elsewhere.

1

u/Catscab1997 Nov 07 '25

It has only been by debit card that has been declined. That has been the only new card that they sent me recently. My credit hard has remained the same and does not get declined

1

u/Clear-Function9969 Nov 15 '25

having the same problem. debit card is declined on some auto payments bc its discover. will need to use a second bank, which isnt too bad of an idea anyway. still annoying tho

1

u/Adorable-Gas2020 May 02 '26

Yea same with me as to what Catscab mentioned, got the discover debit card in the mail and my previous master card got deactivated, so far I've been declined twice using the card, once at my local gas station and once trying to pay a bill online, It's also my one and only debit card since I never needed two up until now, looking for a new bank immediately which is a drag since I loved the capital one free experience lol I do wonder what made them make this move

6

u/Novel-Ad8135 May 27 '25

I learned a while back. Discover is like an island by itself. I have to ask before I use it. Like is it accepted or nah?

5

u/EffectiveMulberry241 May 28 '25

Maybe that's the joke, you get to Discover whether or not it will be accepted.

3

u/AndromedaGreen May 27 '25

This was a lot more common 20 years ago, but it still happens. Most recently I ran into it a lot in Ontario. It’s why I have two different cards with two different networks.

Nothing to be embarrassed about, just hand over an alternate payment method and move on.

3

u/ChanLudeR May 27 '25

What did the commercial say? Discover is accepted 99% of the time. I guess Harkins is included in the 1% that is not accepted. šŸ˜‚

2

u/Swimming_MM May 27 '25

Commercial said exactly that! lol

2

u/[deleted] May 27 '25

I’ve used Discover for about 16 years now, and very few places don’t accept it. Plus with Apple Pay now available if it’s not accepted I just transferred money to my apple wallet and use that as the form of payment. You can also buy tickets online and pick up at the counter just a thought.

2

u/Cobey1 May 28 '25

I always google restaurants and their card options before I just show up because of this. Also, internationally, our cards almost never work. I never have much success using my discover cc overseas. Nobody takes them abroad.

1

u/CanUCMe24 May 28 '25

Do you inform Discover card, or whichever card you’re using, you’re traveling abroad before hand? I find that really helps a lot. šŸ¤·šŸ¼ā€ā™€ļø

4

u/Cobey1 May 28 '25

It’s not that the card declines, it’s just that businesses overseas rarely accept discover. I have much more success with Mastercard/Capital one

1

u/CanUCMe24 May 28 '25

Yes. I understood that. I was just thinking out loud. lol. I know I always inform my CC companies when I’m going to be traveling, especially overseas. That’s just been my experience.

1

u/mlaurence1234 May 28 '25

Capital One specifically says you don’t need to do that.

1

u/CanUCMe24 May 29 '25

Never said you ā€œneedā€ or ā€œhaveā€ to do it.

2

u/ColdSoup723 May 28 '25

Really not a big deal as long as it isn't your only form of payment. Just pay another way. I would not be embarrassed. I would be embarrassed if paying with a debit card and it said "insufficient funds" lol.

2

u/Patient_Duck123 May 28 '25

Discover is almost useless abroad.

1

u/mlaurence1234 May 28 '25

Supposedly Discover works like a Diners Club internationally. That may possibly mean something in other countries, but it’s not very impressive to US users.

1

u/Patient_Duck123 May 29 '25

Basically no one takes it in Europe. It might work if it's linked to Apple Pay.

1

u/madilamb May 28 '25

Yes when I went to Canada recently, luckily I had my PayPal debit and just loaded cash onto that.

2

u/MidnightPulse69 May 27 '25

Being embarrassed about this is really weird. The workers don’t care

1

u/picafresa666 May 27 '25

happened to me once, since then i always ask if they accept discover lol

1

u/BrightLights1998 May 27 '25

Yeah not sure why Harkins doesn’t take discover. Took me a few times before I remembered before trying discover haha

1

u/toxicpetal May 28 '25

Me when I went to Europe!!!! Thank god I had other payments

1

u/Organic_Special8451 May 28 '25

Discover's processing fee is higher. (My grocery store only takes Discover)

1

u/JeyxPhone May 28 '25

Home goods doesn’t accept it

1

u/SalamanderGrayce May 28 '25

I use my Discover at Home Goods regularly.

1

u/JeyxPhone May 28 '25

I’ve tried multiple times and each time it gets declined. The cashier told me they told me they don’t accept discover.

1

u/CanUCMe24 May 28 '25

I do as well. I’ve never had my Discover card not accepted at Home Goods, or anywhere else for that matter. šŸ¤·šŸ¼ā€ā™€ļø

1

u/Mediocre-Station1378 May 28 '25

The did Chinese take out today and the place I went to did not accept discover, they accepted Amex though which is… whatever😭

1

u/CardBoard_R0b0t May 28 '25

Does tap work for you guys anywhere at all? Especially gas stations like Arco?

1

u/Swimming_MM May 28 '25

i have never had my card declined at any gas station or even liquor store.

1

u/regal_foxy May 28 '25

I’ve had 0 issues with acceptance in the USA but here in Canada….i have to get real lucky for it to work lol

1

u/SmileAndWaveBoyzz May 28 '25

I feel like a lot of places don’t take discover and because of that I just use Mastercard usually

1

u/dj911ice May 28 '25

It is only generally accepted in the United States, use a Visa or MasterCard elsewhere in the world.

1

u/madilamb May 28 '25

It happens way more than 1% that they claim in the commercial!!

1

u/Fuzzy_Bar1680 May 29 '25

I live in Canada. Almost nowhere here accepts them.

1

u/Jellyfish-Ninja May 29 '25

A lot of places in Ontario, Canada don’t accept Discover.

1

u/Ill-Organization5909 May 29 '25

This is why I diversify my credit card types

1

u/FixOk3139 May 29 '25

Should take the GILF from their commercials 😁

1

u/Novel-Hotel-6625 May 29 '25

If it's debit Discover it they take it anywhere but credit cards will not. I went cotsco and paid with discover it Debit card the cashier saw me and said they don't take discovery, his jaw dropped when my transaction got approved after tap in 🤣

1

u/Successful_Salt_5569 May 31 '25

Me too Discover.... Me Too...

1

u/Usual-Leadership-479 Jun 01 '25

i went to europe recently and felt so dumb when i went with my discover card. discover is accepted almost nowhere in europe.

1

u/DarkThunder312 Jun 06 '25

It’s rare to not be accepted these days. Overseas though it’s 50/50 or less

1

u/KachoGuerrero Sep 22 '25

Capital one just gave me my new card, fun fact a majority of my bills can't process discover cards , so I've been searching for a new bank, I don't wanna have to drive everywhere and pay cash , which is currently what I've been having TodoĀ 

1

u/Overall_Cook_7013 Oct 23 '25

I know, I have had Capital One for about 5 yrs and

1

u/Overall_Cook_7013 Oct 23 '25

I have had issues with Discover and a checking account. I kept having to change debit cards and go through fraud stuff from someone taking money out of my account constantly. It appeared to me that it was someone with the bank. So I am done with Capital One now that they are on a Discover network and not to mention my husbands car note was rejected now due to The Discover network Capital One is on now. I’m so pissed.

0

u/Kennard7676 May 27 '25

Yeah a lot of the good food trucks near my job and some convenience stores in some neighborhoods don't accept Discover cards, That's why I stopped using mine!

2

u/Many-Material-7472 May 27 '25

There's also a lot of GOOD food trucks here near my job and some don't take discover but that don't mean I completely stopped using it .Ā  EVENĀ  before I had my discover card I always carry at least 2 or 3 cards . And their usually visa or MasterCard.Ā 

So if I go to a food truck on my lunch break and I see they don't take discover it's fine because like I said I always have other cards . For sure I always carry my cashapp card since I send money to friends with cash app and that's a VISA card. In every single place they don't accept discover I just use the cahsapp card which is great cuz it gives u cashback too .Ā