Iceland has one of the highest rates of card usage in the world, but Discover cards are almost never issued locally. This method matters for a different reason. In a tourism market where annual visitor numbers are several times the population (roughly 400,000), travelers from the Americas make up a large share, and whether you can accept the Discover and Diners Club network cards they carry directly translates into revenue opportunity.

If you run an online sales channel targeting Iceland with a high share of American traveler bookings — car rentals, accommodation, tours, and the like — it is worth considering adding Discover alongside Visa and Mastercard as a complementary method to reduce payment failures. Check the comparison table below for how it differs in role from other methods.

When a consumer enters a card number or pays with a saved card, authorization is processed through the Discover Global Network (Discover and Diners Club). Since a large share of Discover transactions received in Iceland involve cards issued outside the EEA, PSD2 SCA (Strong Customer Authentication) is not applied uniformly, and whether extra authentication is required instead depends on the issuer's policy and risk rules. Hecto Financial receives the transaction amount in ISK, converts the currency, and pays out to the merchant in whichever of USD, KRW, or JPY was chosen under contract.

Through Hecto Financial, you can consider accepting Discover under a contract with your Korean corporation, without a local contract in Iceland. Coverage for foreign-issued cards can vary depending on the acquiring setup, so confirm the network scope — including whether Diners Club is included — with the sales team before signing a contract.

• Business registration country

  Confirm contract eligibility for Korea-registered businesses

• Sales channel

  Integration method and priority differ depending on your online sales channel mix — owned storefront, marketplace, mobile app, and so on

• Product category

  Check in advance whether your products fall under a category restricted by the Discover operator's merchant policy

• EEA regulatory check

  Confirm that even though Iceland is not an EU member, European payment regulations such as PSD2 apply through the EEA Agreement (see official sources below)

The flow of funds is the same even for foreign-issued card transactions. Hecto Financial receives and converts the ISK-authorized amount, then settles with the Korean merchant in whichever of USD, KRW, or JPY was contracted (the cycle and fee rate depend on contract terms). Refunds and chargebacks follow Discover network rules, so managing dispute-response deadlines matters, and since a 14-day right of withdrawal is also recognized for distance sales to EEA consumers, this should be reflected in your refund policy as well.

• Seðlabanki Íslands (Central Bank of Iceland)Official information on Iceland's payment system and financial supervision (the central bank also carries out the financial supervisory function). If actual regulations differ from this page's content, the official source takes precedence.