Capital One-Discover Deal Shakes Up Payments Sector: QuickTake

Capital One Financial Corp., the US lender backed by Warren Buffett, is set to buy Discover Financial Services in a $35 billion deal that would bring together two of the biggest credit card firms and allow them to compete with other Wall Street behemoths. Here’s all you need to know about the acquisition and what it could mean for consumers:

1. Why does Capital One want to buy Discover?

The combination, if approved by regulators, would allow Capital One to surpass rivals JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. to become the largest US credit-card issuer. It would ...