Abraham Yousef · September 2023
Discover’s Engagement in the Mobile Banking Landscape
US consumers maintain elevated levels of credit card debt and delinquency rates are rising. While Discoverʼs 2Q23 interest income rose 22% YoY, its credit card net charge-off rate was up 167bps YoY and sales volume slowed into 3Q23. As 3Q23 comes to a close, the company is also facing headwinds and was forced to pause stock buybacks in July, as it deals with the blowback from incorrectly classifying certain credit cards. However, there is room for optimism as Discover increases its marketing initiatives in the second half of the year, touting its successful cash back debit offer.
Key Takeaways:
Discover increased its US ad spend by 25% QoQ in 2Q23, as it started to kick off its larger cash back debit program. In 1H23 Discover US ad spend increased 140% YoY, with US ad spending increasing across the wider cohort by 22%
As of 1H23, Discover has been one of the top drivers in increased MAUs across the mobile banking cohort, up 13% YoY, only trailing American Express which recorded 16% YoY growth
Per Sensor Tower data, Chase, Capital One, and HSBC saw ~5% YoY MAU growth in 1H23 while Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and U.S. Bank largely remained flat
Global downloads across the cohort increased ~10% YoY in 1H23, with U.S. Bank (50% YoY) and American Express (30%) growing the most during that time
Discover’s downloads declined 3% YoY in 1H23 after a 44% increase in 1H22, however the brand has seen consistent MoM growth since May’23, up an average of 8% MoM through Aug’23
For more information, request the full report from reports@sensortower.com.
