Discover 2011 Annual Report Download - page 19

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disability, natural disasters or other life events, such as marriage or birth of a child. Depending on the product and
availability under state laws, outstanding balances up to certain amounts are cancelled in the event of death. A similar
product is also offered to our personal loan customers upon request.
• Wallet Protection. This product offers one-call convenience if a customer's wallet is lost or stolen, including requesting
cancellation and replacement of the customer's credit and debit cards, monitoring the customer's credit bureau reports
for 90 days, providing up to $100 to replace the customer's wallet and, if needed, giving the customer up to a $1,000
cash advance on his or her Discover card account.
• Credit ScoreTracker. This product offers customers resources that help them understand and monitor their credit
scores. Credit ScoreTracker is specifically designed for score monitoring by alerting customers when their score
changes, allowing customers to set a target score and providing resources to help customers understand the factors that
may be influencing their scores.
• Extended Warranties. Discover customers can purchase online service warranties from our extended warranty provider
to protect purchases of new electronics and appliances as well as certain other purchases.
Brand and Advertising Management
We maintain a full-service, in-house direct marketing department charged with delivering integrated communications to
foster customer engagement with our products and services in addition to supervising external agencies. Our brand team
utilizes consumer insights to define our mass communication strategy, create multi-channel advertising messages and develop
marketing partnerships with sponsorship properties.
Customer Service
Our customers can contact our customer service personnel by calling 1-800-Discover. Credit card customers also can
manage their accounts online or through applications for certain mobile devices. Our internet and mobile solutions offer a range
of benefits, including:
• Online account services that allow customers to customize their accounts, choose how and when they pay their bills,
create annual account summaries that assist them with budgeting and taxes, research transaction details, initiate
transaction disputes, and chat with or email a customer representative;
• Email and mobile text reminders to help customers avoid fees and track big purchases or returns;
• Money management tools like the Spend Analyzer, Paydown Planner and Purchase Planner;
• Secure online account numbers that let customers shop online without ever revealing their actual account numbers;
and
• An online portal where customers automatically earn 5-20% Cashback Bonus when they shop at well-known online
merchants using their Discover card.
Our personal and student loan customers can utilize our online account services to manage their accounts. Our student
loan website also includes interactive tools that provide customers with advice on paying for college and calculators to help
them utilize student loans responsibly.
Processing Services
Processing services cover four functional areas: card personalization/embossing, print/mail, remittance processing and
document processing. Card personalization/embossing is responsible for the embossing and mailing of plastic credit cards for
new accounts, replacements and reissues, as well as gift cards. Print/mail specializes in statement and letter printing and
mailing for merchants and customers. Remittance processing, currently a function outsourced to a third-party vendor, handles
account payments and check processing. Document processing handles hard-copy forms, including product enrollments and
new account applications.
Fraud Prevention
We monitor our customers' accounts to prevent, detect, investigate and resolve fraud. Our fraud prevention processes are
designed to protect the security of cards, applications and accounts in a manner consistent with our customers' needs to easily
acquire and use our products. Prevention systems handle the authorization of application information, verification of customer
identity, sales, processing of convenience and balance transfer checks, and electronic transactions.
Each credit card transaction is subject to screening, authorization and approval through a proprietary POS decision
system. We use a variety of techniques that help identify and halt fraudulent transactions, including adaptive models, rules-
based decision-making logic, report analysis, data integrity checks and manual account reviews. We manage accounts identified
by the fraud detection system through technology that integrates fraud prevention and customer service. Strategies are subject
to regular review and enhancement to enable us to respond quickly to changing credit conditions as well as to protect our
customers and our business from emerging fraud activity.
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