Discover Financial Services (DFS.N) said it will monitor firearms dealer sales next April. This will aid gun-crime investigations.
The announcement follows ISO’s September approval of a firearms dealer code.
Financial firms may help US authorities investigate serious gun crimes, according to gun control groups and Democratic legislator.
Republican legislators support the proposal, claiming that it may breach the privacy of U.S. gun buyers. Discover will integrate the new code in its April merchant and payment partner policy and product update.
Reuters reported that it will protect cardholder privacy and promote legal transactions across its network. However, a Discover spokeswoman said that other payment network companies had implemented the new code in April. Discover was following suit after the news broke.
Meanwhile, Discover’s representative didn’t identify these employees. “We follow the industry for consistent implementation,” a spokeswoman said. Visa, MasterCard, and American Express are Discover’s key rivals (AXP.N).
Likewise, officials refused to comment on the revised code distribution plan to Reuters. However, in the fall, both corporations pledged to apply the code while protecting privacy. According to ISO officials in Geneva, financial institutions will have the new code, “5723 – Weapons and ammunition shops,” by February.
ISO representatives stated industry users will decide whether to utilize the new merchant category codes. Discover handled 2% of the $9.56 trillion in US credit and debit card sales in 2022, according to Nilson Research. While Visa had 61%, Mastercard had 26%, and American Express had 11%.
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