Discover is a US-based card network linked to the Diners Club network. Since there is virtually no local issuance base among Spanish consumers, this guide takes the perspective of a supplementary method aimed at capturing payments from visitors and residents who carry cards issued in the US and elsewhere abroad.
Local cards in Spain are effectively all Visa and Mastercard, and local Discover issuance is hard to find. However, Spain is one of the world's top tourism destinations with steady inflows of visitors from the Americas and Asia, generating occasional payment demand from customers carrying US-issued Discover cards or Diners Club cards. The premise of this page is expanding coverage for foreign-issued cards rather than serving as a primary method for local consumers.
Inbound tourism businesses such as hotels, tours, and car rentals, and global online stores with a meaningful share of customers from the Americas, can reduce payment failure cases by accepting Discover. Coverage for local consumers is already largely met by Visa, Mastercard, and the Bizum/PayPal combination, so Discover should be judged as an additional option on top of that.
The payment flow is the same as for a standard card. When a customer enters card details or pays with a saved card, approval runs through the Discover/Diners network, and PSD2 Strong Customer Authentication (SCA, 3DS2) procedures may apply to transactions within the EU. Hecto Financial collects the approved payment in euros (EUR), converts it, and settles it with the Korean merchant.
Integrating through Hecto Financial lets a Korean corporation consider Discover/Diners acceptance as an addition to existing card acceptance, without a separate local contract. Actual eligibility and terms (settlement cycle, fees, currency options) need to be confirmed based on industry and transaction volume.
※ This section describes the general support process and does not guarantee that integration is possible for any specific merchant. Please confirm the exact scope of support and fees through a consultation.
Confirm contract eligibility based on domestic business registration
The integration approach and priority differ depending on your online sales channel mix, such as your own site, open marketplaces, and mobile apps
Check in advance whether your category falls under restricted industries per Discover's merchant policy
Confirm compliance with EU payment regulations such as PSD2 and SEPA (see official sources below)
Discover transactions are also recorded as revenue in euros (EUR) based on the Spanish merchant account, and after Hecto Financial's collection and conversion, they are settled domestically in whichever currency was contracted — USD, KRW, or JPY. Because these are foreign-issued cards, dispute and chargeback processing deadlines may differ from local cards, and if you sell to EU consumers, you should also confirm whether the 14-day right of withdrawal applies by transaction type.
Hecto Financial's team will help you review a payment method mix suited to the Spanish market.
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