According to the financial result, the company’s total loans grew $4.6bn, or 9%, from the prior year to $56.3bn, while its credit card loans grew $1.6bn to $45.9bn and Discover card sales volume was up by 7%.
For the latest quarter period, payment services pretax income was up 21% from the prior year to $52m, while transaction volume for the segment was $46.7bn in the quarter, an increase of 8% from the prior year.
Discover chairman and chief executive officer David Nelms said the firm’s results for this quarter represents a great start for 2012.
"Continued improvements in credit performance, solid organic growth in each of our lending products and strong volume growth across our networks were key drivers of this quarter’s earnings," Nelms said.
The company’s direct banking pretax income was $962m in the quarter up $285 million, or 42%, from the previous year.
Discover card sales volume rose 7% from the prior year to $25.6bn, primarily driven by an increase in the number of customers using their Discover card.
Net interest income grew $123m, or 11%, from the prior year, primarily driven by an increase in income from student and personal loans and lower interest expense.
