Background and Basis of Presentation |
12 Months Ended |
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Dec. 31, 2020 | |
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] | |
Background and Basis of Presentation | Background and Basis of Presentation Description of Business Discover Financial Services (“DFS” or the “Company”) is a digital banking and payment services company. The Company is a bank holding company under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 as well as a financial holding company under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and therefore is subject to oversight, regulation and examination by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”). The Company provides digital banking products and services and payment services through its subsidiaries. The Company offers its customers credit card loans, private student loans, personal loans, home loans and deposit products. The Company also operates the Discover Network, the PULSE network (“PULSE”) and Diners Club International (“Diners Club”), collectively known as the Discover Global Network. The Discover Network processes transactions for Discover-branded credit and debit cards and provides payment transaction processing and settlement services. PULSE operates an electronic funds transfer network, providing financial institutions issuing debit cards on the PULSE network with access to ATMs domestically and internationally, as well as merchant acceptance throughout the United States for debit card transactions. Diners Club is a global payments network of licensees, which are generally financial institutions, that issue Diners Club branded charge cards and/or provide card acceptance services. The Company’s business activities are managed in two segments, Digital Banking and Payment Services, based on the products and services provided. For a detailed description of the operations of each segment, as well as the allocation conventions used in business segment reporting, see Note 22: Segment Disclosures. Basis of Presentation The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the Company to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. These estimates are based on information available as of the date of the consolidated financial statements. The Company believes that the estimates used in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements are reasonable. Actual results could differ from these estimates. Principles of Consolidation The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. The Company’s policy is to consolidate all entities in which it owns more than 50% of the outstanding voting stock unless it does not control the entity. However, the Company did not have a controlling voting interest in any entity other than its wholly-owned subsidiaries in the periods presented in the accompanying consolidated financial statements. It is also the Company’s policy to consolidate any VIEs for which the Company is the primary beneficiary, as defined by GAAP. On this basis, the Company consolidates the Discover Card Master Trust I (“DCMT”) and the Discover Card Execution Note Trust (“DCENT”) as well as the student loan securitization trust. The Company is deemed to be the primary beneficiary of each of these trusts since it is, for each, the trust Servicer and the holder of both the residual interest and the majority of the most subordinated interests. Because of those involvements, the Company has, for each trust, (i) the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of the trust and (ii) the obligation (or right) to absorb losses (or receive benefits) of the trust that could potentially be significant. The Company has determined that it was not the primary beneficiary of any other VIE during the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018. For investments in any entities in which the Company owns 50% or less of the outstanding voting stock but in which the Company has significant influence over operating and financial decisions, the Company applies the equity method of accounting. The Company also applies the equity method to its investments in qualified affordable housing projects and similar tax credit partnerships. In cases where the Company’s equity investment is less than 20% and significant influence does not exist, such investments are carried at cost as they typically do not have readily determinable fair values, and are adjusted for any impairment in value. Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. The FASB subsequently issued several additional ASUs that clarify the scope and application of the new credit loss guidance. Topic 326 replaced the incurred loss model with the current expected credit loss (“CECL”) approach. For loans carried at amortized cost, the allowance for credit losses is now based on management’s current estimate of all anticipated credit losses over the remaining expected life of the loans. Upon the origination of a loan, the Company will record its estimate of all expected credit losses on that loan through an immediate charge to earnings. Updates to that estimate each period will be recorded through provision expense. The CECL estimate is based on historical experience, current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts. As compared to prior GAAP, the CECL approach increases the Company’s allowance for credit losses on loan receivables as a result of: (i) recording reserves for expected losses, not simply those deemed to be already incurred, (ii) extending the loss estimate period over the entire life of the loan and (iii) presenting the credit loss component of the purchased credit-impaired (“PCI”) loan portfolio in the allowance for credit losses rather than embedding it within the loan carrying value. The allowance for credit losses on all loans carried at amortized cost, including loans previously referred to as PCI loans and loans modified in a troubled debt restructuring (“TDR”) are measured under the CECL approach. Previous specialized measurement guidance for PCI loans, which are now referred to as purchased credit-deteriorated (“PCD”), and TDRs was eliminated, although certain separate disclosure guidance was retained. Measurement of credit impairment of available-for-sale debt securities generally remains unchanged under the new rules, but any credit impairment is recorded through an allowance, rather than a direct write-down of the security. The Company invests in United States Treasury obligations and residential mortgage-backed securities issued by government agencies, which have long histories with no credit losses and are explicitly or implicitly guaranteed by the United States government. Therefore, management has concluded that there is no expectation of non-payment on its investment securities and does not record an allowance for credit losses on these investments. The ASU became effective for the Company on January 1, 2020, and required modified-retrospective application, meaning a cumulative-effect adjustment was recorded as of the effective date without adjusting comparative prior periods. This cumulative-effect adjustment did not reflect the economic disruption resulting from the coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) since the global disruption occurred subsequent to January 1, 2020. As a result of adoption, the Company recorded: •A $2.5 billion increase to the allowance for credit losses primarily representing the adjustment for recording reserves for expected losses, not simply those deemed to be already incurred, and extending the loss estimate period over the entire life of the loan; •A $0.6 billion increase to other assets related to deferred tax assets on the larger allowance for credit losses; •An offsetting $1.9 billion decrease, net of tax, to the opening balance of retained earnings; and •Immaterial adjustments to the following: •The carrying value of PCD loans and related accrued interest reflected in other assets; and •Accrued expenses and other liabilities to record reserves for unfunded commitments. As required by the ASU, financial statement results and balances prior to January 1, 2020, have not been retrospectively adjusted to reflect the amendments in ASU No. 2016-13. Therefore, current period results and balances are not comparable to prior period amounts, particularly with regard to the provision and allowance for credit losses (and their related subtotals) In January 2021, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued ASU No. 2021-01, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Scope. The ASU clarifies that certain optional expedients and exceptions provided in Topic 848 (see discussion below pertaining to ASU No. 2020-04) also apply to derivatives that do not reference a rate that is being discontinued but otherwise are affected by reference rate reform. The ASU clarifies that changes in the interest rates used for margining, discounting, or contract price alignment for derivative instruments that are being implemented as part of the market-wide transition to new reference rates (commonly referred to as the “discounting transition”) are within the scope of Topic 848. The ASU was effective upon issuance and was retrospectively adopted as of October 1, 2020. It was initially applied in October 2020 with the election of optional relief from contract modification accounting for eligible interest rate swaps affected by a change in discounting methodology. The Company does not expect there to be a material impact to the financial statements. See Note 20: Fair Value Measurements for more information. In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting. The ASU addresses operational challenges resulting from the discontinuation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) and other reference rates at the end of 2021. By providing optional practical expedients and exceptions to applying certain GAAP requirements, ASU No. 2020-04 provides temporary relief designed to ease the operational cost and burden of accounting for contract modifications, hedging relationships and other transactions that reference LIBOR or another reference rate expected to be discontinued as a result of reference rate reform. In general, the optional expedients and exceptions allow eligible contracts that are modified due to reference rate reform to be accounted for prospectively as a continuation of those contracts, permit companies to preserve hedge accounting for hedging relationships affected by reference rate reform and enable companies to make a one-time election to transfer or sell certain held-to-maturity debt securities indexed to LIBOR or another reference rate that is expected to be discontinued. The temporary expedients and exceptions are elective and do not apply to contract modifications made and hedging relationships entered into or evaluated after December 31, 2022, with the exception of hedging relationships existing as of that date for which certain optional expedients have been elected and are expected to be retained through the end of the hedging relationships. The ASU became effective upon issuance and it was initially applied by the Company in October 2020 with the election of optional relief from contract modification accounting for eligible interest rate swaps affected by a change in discounting methodology. As part of its overall evaluation of reference rate reform, management is still evaluating the impact that LIBOR replacement will have on the Company’s financial statements. Any such impacts will be prospective in nature and the Company expects it to affect net interest income and fair value estimates after the effective date of such rate replacement. The Company does not expect there to be a material impact to the financial statements.
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