UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-Q
(Mark One)
xQUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
 For the quarterly period ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018
oTRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
 For the transition period from                    to 
                    
Commission File Number 001-33378
DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) 
Delaware 36-2517428
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
   
2500 Lake Cook Road,
Riverwoods, Illinois 60015
 (224) 405-0900
(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code) (Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  x    No  o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).     Yes  x    No  o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer  x
Accelerated filer  o
Non-accelerated filer  o (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)    
Smaller reporting company  o
 
Emerging growth company o
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  o    No  x
As of OctoberJuly 27, 2017,2018, there were 363,380,629342,658,270 shares of the registrant’s Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share, outstanding.
 

DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018
TABLE OF CONTENTS
 
 
   
Except as otherwise indicated or unless the context otherwise requires, “Discover Financial Services,” “Discover,” “DFS,” “we,” “us,” “our,” and “the Company” refer to Discover Financial Services and its subsidiaries.
We own or have rights to use the trademarks, trade names and service marks that we use in conjunction with the operation of our business, including, but not limited to: Discover®, PULSE®, Cashback Bonus®, Discover Cashback Checking®, Discover it®, Freeze ItSM, DiscoverCollege Covered® Network, and Diners Club International®. All other trademarks, trade names and service marks included in this quarterly report on Form 10-Q are the property of their respective owners.

Part I.FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1.Financial Statements
DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition
September 30,
2017
 December 31,
2016
June 30,
2018
 December 31,
2017
(unaudited)
(dollars in millions,
except share amounts)
(unaudited)
(dollars in millions,
except share amounts)
Assets      
Cash and cash equivalents$13,249
 $11,914
$15,289
 $13,306
Restricted cash1,279
 95
630
 81
Investment securities (includes $1,449 and $1,605 at fair value at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively)1,627
 1,757
Investment securities (includes $1,296 and $1,395 at fair value at June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively)1,522
 1,568
Loan receivables      
Loan receivables80,443
 77,254
84,789
 84,248
Allowance for loan losses(2,531) (2,167)(2,828) (2,621)
Net loan receivables77,912
 75,087
81,961
 81,627
Premises and equipment, net800
 734
874
 825
Goodwill255
 255
255
 255
Intangible assets, net163
 166
162
 163
Other assets2,323
 2,300
2,058
 2,262
Total assets$97,608
 $92,308
$102,751
 $100,087
Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity      
Deposits   
Deposits:   
Interest-bearing deposit accounts$55,583
 $51,461
$61,068
 $58,165
Non-interest bearing deposit accounts552
 531
615
 599
Total deposits56,135
 51,992
61,683
 58,764
Long-term borrowings26,737
 25,443
26,252
 26,326
Accrued expenses and other liabilities3,549
 3,550
3,927
 4,105
Total liabilities86,421
 80,985
91,862
 89,195
Commitments, contingencies and guarantees (Notes 8, 11 and 12)
 

 
Stockholders’ Equity:      
Common stock, par value $0.01 per share; 2,000,000,000 shares authorized; 563,475,745 and 562,414,040 shares issued at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively6
 5
Preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share; 200,000,000 shares authorized; 575,000 shares issued and outstanding and aggregate liquidation preference of $575 at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016560
 560
Common stock, par value $0.01 per share; 2,000,000,000 shares authorized; 564,557,895 and 563,497,702 shares issued at June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively6
 6
Preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share; 200,000,000 shares authorized; 5,700 shares issued and outstanding and aggregate liquidation preference of $570 at June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017563
 563
Additional paid-in capital4,016
 3,962
4,089
 4,042
Retained earnings16,452
 15,130
17,787
 16,687
Accumulated other comprehensive loss(148) (161)(162) (152)
Treasury stock, at cost; 197,432,811 and 173,648,023 shares at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively(9,699) (8,173)
Treasury stock, at cost; 220,657,224 and 205,577,507 shares at June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively(11,394) (10,254)
Total stockholders’ equity11,187
 11,323
10,889
 10,892
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity$97,608
 $92,308
$102,751
 $100,087
      

The table below presents the carrying amounts of certain assets and liabilities of Discover Financial Services’ consolidated variable interest entities ("VIEs"), which are included in the condensed consolidated statements of financial condition above. The assets in the table below include those assets that can only be used to settle obligations of the consolidated VIEs. The liabilities in the table below include third-party liabilities of consolidated VIEs only and exclude intercompany balances that eliminate in consolidation. The liabilities also exclude amounts for which creditors have recourse to the general credit of Discover Financial Services.
September 30,
2017
 December 31,
2016
June 30,
2018
 December 31,
2017
(unaudited)
(dollars in millions)
(unaudited)
(dollars in millions)
Assets      
Restricted cash$1,279
 $95
$630
 $81
Loan receivables$30,689
 $33,016
$30,151
 $31,781
Allowance for loan losses allocated to securitized loan receivables$(990) $(955)$(1,020) $(998)
Other assets$6
 $4
$6
 $5
Liabilities      
Long-term borrowings$16,979
 $16,411
$16,365
 $16,536
Accrued expenses and other liabilities$15
 $15
$17
 $16
      

See Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
1


Table of Contents

DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income
For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30,For the Three Months Ended June 30, For the Six Months Ended June 30,
2017 2016 2017 20162018 2017 2018 2017
 (unaudited)
(dollars in millions, except per share amounts)
 (unaudited)
(dollars in millions, except per share amounts)
Interest income              
Credit card loans$2,026
 $1,812
 $5,818
 $5,279
$2,139
 $1,916
 $4,229
 $3,792
Other loans400
 347
 1,146
 1,004
421
 379
 838
 746
Investment securities6
 9
 20
 30
6
 7
 13
 14
Other interest income44
 16
 108
 45
70
 36
 125
 64
Total interest income2,476
 2,184
 7,092
 6,358
2,636
 2,338
 5,205
 4,616
Interest expense              
Deposits218
 178
 608
 506
287
 199
 549
 390
Long-term borrowings208
 181
 604
 526
220
 201
 427
 396
Total interest expense426
 359
 1,212
 1,032
507
 400
 976
 786
Net interest income2,050
 1,825
 5,880
 5,326
2,129
 1,938
 4,229
 3,830
Provision for loan losses674
 445
 1,900
 1,281
742
 640
 1,493
 1,226
Net interest income after provision for loan losses1,376
 1,380
 3,980
 4,045
1,387
 1,298
 2,736
 2,604
Other income              
Discount and interchange revenue, net258
 263
 769
 801
263
 278
 517
 511
Protection products revenue55
 60
 169
 180
50
 56
 103
 114
Loan fee income95
 91
 267
 250
95
 83
 191
 172
Transaction processing revenue43
 40
 124
 115
42
 42
 85
 81
Gain on investments3
 
 3
 
Other income21
 22
 71
 69
24
 22
 53
 50
Total other income475
 476
 1,403
 1,415
474
 481
 949
 928
Other expense              
Employee compensation and benefits371
 342
 1,101
 1,027
400
 367
 805
 730
Marketing and business development203
 195
 563
 555
224
 192
 409
 360
Information processing and communications78
 81
 235
 258
86
 77
 168
 157
Professional fees163
 143
 466
 453
161
 156
 316
 303
Premises and equipment25
 25
 73
 72
24
 23
 50
 48
Other expense108
 109
 307
 322
89
 97
 204
 199
Total other expense948
 895
 2,745
 2,687
984
 912
 1,952
 1,797
Income before income tax expense903
 961
 2,638
 2,773
877
 867
 1,733
 1,735
Income tax expense301
 322
 926
 943
208
 321
 398
 625
Net income$602
 $639
 $1,712
 $1,830
$669
 $546
 $1,335
 $1,110
Net income allocated to common stockholders$589
 $625
 $1,672
 $1,789
$663
 $532
 $1,309
 $1,083
Basic earnings per common share$1.59
 $1.56
 $4.42
 $4.37
$1.91
 $1.41
 $3.73
 $2.83
Diluted earnings per common share$1.59
 $1.56
 $4.42
 $4.36
$1.91
 $1.40
 $3.72
 $2.83
Dividends declared per common share$0.35
 $0.30
 $0.95
 $0.88
$0.35
 $0.30
 $0.70
 $0.60
              

See Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
2


Table of Contents

DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income
For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30,For the Three Months Ended June 30, For the Six Months Ended June 30,
2017 2016 2017 20162018 2017 2018 2017
 (unaudited)
(dollars in millions)
 (unaudited)
(dollars in millions)
Net income$602
 $639
 $1,712
 $1,830
$669
 $546
 $1,335
 $1,110
Other comprehensive income, net of taxes              
Unrealized gain (loss) on available-for-sale investment securities, net of tax1
 (4) 2
 14
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedges, net of tax
1
 13
 11
 (19)
Other comprehensive income (loss)2
 9
 13
 (5)
Unrealized (loss) gain on available-for-sale investment securities, net of tax(1) 
 (8) 1
Unrealized gain on cash flow hedges, net of tax7
 5
 26
 10
Unrealized pension and post-retirement plan gain, net of tax
 
 1
 
Other comprehensive income6
 5
 19
 11
Comprehensive income$604
 $648
 $1,725
 $1,825
$675
 $551
 $1,354
 $1,121
              

See Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
3


Table of Contents

DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity
        
Additional
Paid-in
Capital
 
Retained
Earnings
 
Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive Loss
 
Treasury
Stock
 
Total
Stockholders’
Equity
        
Additional
Paid-in
Capital
 
Retained
Earnings
 Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss 
Treasury
Stock
 
Total
Stockholders’
Equity
Preferred Stock Common Stock Preferred Stock Common Stock 
Shares Amount Shares Amount Shares Amount Shares Amount 
(unaudited)
(dollars in millions, shares in thousands)
Balance at December 31, 2015575
 $560
 560,679
 $5
 $3,885
 $13,250
 $(160) $(6,265) $11,275
Net income
 
 
 
 
 1,830
 
 
 1,830
Other comprehensive loss
 
 
 
 
 
 (5) 
 (5)
Purchases of treasury stock
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (1,430) (1,430)
Common stock issued under employee benefit plans
 
 66
 
 3
 
 
 
 3
Common stock issued and stock-based compensation expense
 
 1,646
 
 58
 
 
 
 58
Dividends — common stock
 
 
 
 
 (356) 
 
 (356)
Dividends — preferred stock
 
 
 
 
 (28) 
 
 (28)
Balance at September 30, 2016575
 $560
 562,391
 $5
 $3,946
 $14,696
 $(165) $(7,695) $11,347
                 
(unaudited)
(dollars in millions, shares in thousands)
Balance at December 31, 2016575
 $560
 562,414
 $5
 $3,962
 $15,130
 $(161) $(8,173) $11,323
575
 $560
 562,414
 $5
 $3,962
 $15,130
 $(161) $(8,173) $11,323
Net income
 
 
 
 
 1,712
 
 
 1,712

 
 
 
 
 1,110
 
 
 1,110
Other comprehensive income
 
 
 
 
 
 13
 
 13

 
 
 
 
 
 11
 
 11
Purchases of treasury stock
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (1,526) (1,526)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (970) (970)
Common stock issued under employee benefit plans
 
 63
 
 4
 
 
 
 4

 
 40
 
 3
 
 
 
 3
Common stock issued and stock-based compensation expense
 
 999
 1
 50
 
 
 
 51

 
 988
 1
 32
 
 
 
 33
Dividends — common stock
 
 
 
 
 (362) 
 
 (362)
 
 
 
 
 (232) 
 
 (232)
Dividends — preferred stock
 
 
 
 
 (28) 
 
 (28)
 
 
 
 
 (19) 
 
 (19)
Balance at September 30, 2017575
 $560
 563,476
 $6
 $4,016
 $16,452
 $(148) $(9,699) $11,187
Balance at June 30, 2017575
 $560
 563,442
 $6
 $3,997
 $15,989
 $(150) $(9,143) $11,259
                                  
Balance at December 31, 20176
 $563
 563,498
 $6
 $4,042
 $16,687
 $(152) $(10,254) $10,892
Cumulative effect of ASU No. 2018-02 adoption
 
 
 
 
 29
 (29) 
 
Net income
 
 
 
 
 1,335
 
 
 1,335
Other comprehensive income
 
 
 
 
 
 19
 
 19
Purchases of treasury stock
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (1,140) (1,140)
Common stock issued under employee benefit plans
 
 45
 
 3
 
 
 
 3
Common stock issued and stock-based compensation expense
 
 1,015
 
 44
 
 
 
 44
Dividends — common stock
 
 
 
 
 (248) 
 
 (248)
Dividends — preferred stock
 
 
 
 
 (16) 
 
 (16)
Balance at June 30, 20186
 $563
 564,558
 $6
 $4,089
 $17,787
 $(162) $(11,394) $10,889
                 

See Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
4


Table of Contents

DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
For the Nine Months Ended September 30,For the Six Months Ended June 30,
2017 20162018 2017
(unaudited)
(dollars in millions)
(unaudited)
(dollars in millions)
Cash flows from operating activities      
Net income$1,712
 $1,830
$1,335
 $1,110
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by (used for) operating activities:      
Provision for loan losses1,900
 1,281
1,493
 1,226
Deferred income taxes(137) (46)
Depreciation and amortization289
 262
216
 188
Amortization of deferred revenues and accretion of accretable yield on acquired loans(299) (298)(198) (195)
Net loss on investments and other assets42
 40
22
 27
Other, net(42) 119
44
 33
Changes in assets and liabilities:      
(Increase) decrease in other assets(59) 104
Increase (decrease) in accrued expenses and other liabilities41
 (205)
Decrease in other assets190
 3
Decrease in accrued expenses and other liabilities(141) (314)
Net cash provided by operating activities3,584
 3,133
2,824
 2,032
      
Cash flows from investing activities      
Maturities of other short-term investments
 200
Purchases of other short-term investments
 (1,050)
Maturities of available-for-sale investment securities154
 1,279
86
 104
Maturities of held-to-maturity investment securities12
 17
9
 7
Purchases of held-to-maturity investment securities(40) (56)(62) (36)
Net principal disbursed on loans originated for investment(4,455) (1,990)(1,639) (1,550)
Proceeds from returns of investment17
 

 14
Purchases of other investments(31) (23)(5) (23)
Increase in restricted cash(1,184) (848)
Purchases of premises and equipment(161) (132)(118) (103)
Net cash used for investing activities(5,688) (2,603)(1,729) (1,587)
      
Cash flows from financing activities      
Proceeds from issuance of securitized debt4,242
 3,026
2,184
 2,952
Maturities and repayment of securitized debt(3,715) (2,043)(2,337) (2,651)
Proceeds from issuance of other long-term borrowings1,098
 1,100
844
 1,050
Maturities and repayment of other long-term borrowings(403) 
(753) (401)
Proceeds from issuance of common stock4
 5
3
 2
Purchases of treasury stock(1,526) (1,430)(1,140) (970)
Net increase in deposits4,129
 1,702
2,900
 858
Dividends paid on common and preferred stock(390) (386)(264) (251)
Net cash provided by financing activities3,439
 1,974
1,437
 589
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents1,335
 2,504
Cash and cash equivalents, at beginning of period11,914
 9,572
Cash and cash equivalents, at end of period$13,249
 $12,076
Net increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash2,532
 1,034
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, at beginning of period13,387
 12,009
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, at end of period$15,919
 $13,043
      
Reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash:   
Cash and cash equivalents$15,289
 $12,950
Restricted cash630
 93
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, at end of period$15,919
 $13,043
   


See Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
5


Table of Contents

Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
(unaudited)
1.    Background and Basis of Presentation
1.Background and Basis of Presentation
Description of Business
Discover Financial Services (“DFS” or the “Company”) is a direct banking and payment services company. The Company is a bank holding company under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 as well as a financial holding company under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and therefore is subject to oversight, regulation and examination by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”). The Company provides direct banking products and services and payment services through its subsidiaries. The Company offers its customers credit card loans, private student loans, personal loans, home equity loans and deposit products. The Company also operates the Discover Network, the PULSE network (“PULSE”) and Diners Club International (“Diners Club”). The Discover Network processes transactions for Discover-branded credit and debit cards and provides payment transaction processing and settlement services. PULSE operates an electronic funds transfer network, providing financial institutions issuing debit cards on the PULSE network with access to ATMs domestically and internationally, as well as point-of-sale terminals at retail locations throughout the U.S. for debit card transactions. Diners Club is a global payments network of licensees, which are generally financial institutions, that issue Diners Club branded charge cards and/or provide card acceptance services.
The Company’s business activities are managed in two segments, Direct Banking and Payment Services, based on the products and services provided. For a detailed description of the operations of each segment, as well as the allocation conventions used in business segment reporting, see Note 15: Segment Disclosures.
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete consolidated financial statements. In the opinion of management, the financial statements reflect all adjustments which are necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the interim period. All such adjustments are of a normal, recurring nature. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the Company to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the condensed consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. These estimates are based on information available as of the date of the condensed consolidated financial statements. The Company believes that the estimates used in the preparation of the condensed consolidated financial statements are reasonable. Actual results could differ from these estimates. These interim condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s 20162017 audited consolidated financial statements filed with the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016.2017.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2017,February 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB"(“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2017-12, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted ImprovementsNo. 2018-02, Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income. The ASU permits, but does not require, issuers to Accounting for Hedging Activities. The amendmentsreclassify into retained earnings any tax effects that are stranded in accumulated other comprehensive income (“AOCI”) as a result of ASU 2017-12 are intended to improve the financial reporting of hedging relationships to better reflect the economic results of an entity’s risk management activities through changes to both the designation and measurement guidance for qualifying hedges and the presentation of hedge results. The amendments expand an entity’s ability to apply hedge accounting for both financial and non-financial risk components and allow for a simplified approach for fair value hedging of interest rate risk. ASU 2017-12 eliminates the requirement to separately measure and report hedge ineffectiveness and generally requires the entire change in fair valuethe statutory federal tax rate enacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“TCJA”). Tax effects that are stranded in AOCI for other reasons, such as prior changes in tax law or changes in a hedging instrument tovaluation allowance, may not be presented in the same income statement line as the hedged item. Additionally, ASU 2017-12 simplifies the hedge documentation and effectiveness assessment requirements under the previousreclassified directly through retained earnings. The guidance and amends the disclosures about hedging activities. This ASU will becomeis effective for the Company on January 1, 2019,fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. Management is evaluatingThe Company early adopted the ASU as of April 1, 2018, resulting in a reclassification from AOCI to retained earnings that did not have a material impact to the Company's financial statements. See Note 7: Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income for additional details on the impact of adopting of this standard. The Company's policy is to adjust the adoptiontax effects of ASU 2017-12 will have ona component of AOCI in the Company’s financial statements.same period in which the item is sold or otherwise derecognized, or when the carrying value of the item is remeasured.
In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment. The purpose of this ASU is to simplify the test for goodwill impairment by eliminating Step 2 of the current impairment test. Under the current rules, if the reporting unit’s carrying value exceeds its fair value (Step 1), goodwill impairment is measured as the difference between the carrying value of goodwill and its implied fair value. To compute the implied fair value of goodwill under Step 2, an entity has to perform procedures to determine the fair value at

the impairment testing date of its assets and liabilities (including unrecognized assets and liabilities) following the procedure

that would be required in determining the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in a business combination. Under the new standard, the Company will perform its annual goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount. The Company should recognize an impairment charge for the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value; however, the loss recognized should not exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit. The amendments in this ASU apply to the Company’s annual or any interim goodwill impairment tests in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted for interim or annual goodwill impairment tests performed on testing dates after January 1, 2017. The amendments in this ASU apply on a prospective basis. All of the Company’s recorded goodwill is associated with its PULSE debit business. This ASU has no impact on cash flows, and its adoption is not expected to have any impact on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial condition or results of operations because the estimated fair value of the PULSE reporting unit is well in excess of its carrying value. The Company hasdid not elected to early adopt this amendment.
In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-18, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Restricted Cash. Whereas restricted cash balances have traditionally been excluded from the statement of cash flows, this ASU requires restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents to be included within the beginning and ending totals of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash presented on the statement of cash flows for all periods presented. Restricted cash and restricted cash equivalent inflows and outflows with external parties are required to be classified within the operating, investing, and/or financing activity sections of the statement of cash flows whereas transfers between cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents should no longer be presented on the statement of cash flows. ASU 2016-18 also requires the nature of the restrictions to be disclosed to help provide information about the sources and uses of these balances during a reporting period and a reconciliation of the cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash totals on the statement of cash flowsstandard, but is still evaluating whether it will prior to the related balance sheet line items when cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash are presented in more than one line item on the balance sheet. The reconciliation can be presented either on the face of the statement of cash flows or in the notes to the financial statements and must be provided for each period that a balance sheet is presented. The ASU will become2020 effective for the Company on January 1, 2018, with early adoption permitted, and is not expected to have a material impact to the Company’s statement of cash flows. The Company has not elected to early adopt this amendment.date.
In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. This ASU eliminatesreplaces the incurred loss threshold for initial recognition of credit impairment in current GAAP and replaces itmodel with the current expected credit loss concept.("CECL") approach. For all loans carried at amortized cost, companies will be required to measure theirthe allowance for loan losses will be based on management’s current estimate of all expected credit losses over the remaining contractual term of the assets. Because it eliminates the incurred loss trigger, the new accounting guidance will require companies, uponloans. Upon the origination of a loan, the Company will have to record theirits estimate of all expected credit losses on that loan through an immediate charge to earnings. Updates to that estimate each period will be recorded through provision expense. The CECL estimate of loan losses mustis to be based on historical experience, current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts. The ASU does not mandate the use of anyNo specific method for estimating credit loss is mandated, permitting companies to use judgment in selecting the approach that is most appropriate in their circumstances.
The new rules areCECL approach is expected to affect the Company’s allowance for loan losses as a result of: (1) encompassing expected losses, not simply those deemed to be already incurred, (2) extending the requirement to measure the allowance based on all losses expected to occurloss estimate period over the remainingentire life of the loans receivable rather than including only losses deemed to be related to a past event or current condition,loan, and (2) the(3) reclassification of the non-accretable credit adjustment, currently embedded inloss component of the Company’s purchased credit-impaired ("PCI") student loan portfolio out of loan carrying value and into the allowance for loan losses. The separate measurement guidance applicable today forAll loans carried at amortized cost, including PCI loans and loans modified in a troubled debt restructuring ("TDR") will also be affected. Both troubled debt restructurings andmeasured under the CECL approach. Existing specialized measurement guidance for PCI assets,loans, which the ASU refers to as purchased credit-deteriorated ("PCD"), and TDRs will still be subject toeliminated, although certain separate disclosure requirements.guidance will be retained. Measurement of credit impairment of available-for-sale debt securities will generally remain unchanged under the new rules, but any such impairment will be recorded through an allowance, rather than a direct write-down of the security.
The ASU will becomeis effective for the Company onbeginning January 1, 2020, with early adoption permitted no sooner than January 1, 2019. UponManagement is not considering early adoption a cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings will be recorded asat this time. On the date of the beginning of the first reporting period in which the guidance is effective in an amount necessary to adjustadoption, the allowance for loan losses will be adjusted to equal the currentCECL estimate of expected losses on financial assetsfor loans held at that date.date with an offsetting adjustment to retained earnings. Additionally, upon adoption, the carrying value of PCD loans will be increased through an offsetting addition to the allowance for loan losses for the amount of expected credit lossesCECL estimate on those loans, toloans. The CECL allowance will be re-evaluated in subsequent periods and adjusted through provision expense as needed, and any non-credit premium or discount will be amortized or accreted to interest income from that point forward over the remaining life of PCD loans. Managementneeded. The Company is evaluating the standard, initiatingactively engaged in cross-functional implementation efforts across the

Company, and planning for loss modeling requirements consistent with lifetime expected loss estimates. The Company has also been involved in efforts to identify and resolve various implementation issues specific to the application of the standard to credit card receivables. Adoption of the standard could have a potentially materialhas the potential to materially impact on howstockholders' equity and regulatory capital as well as the Company records and reports itsCompany's financial condition and results of operations, and on regulatory capital.operations. The extent of the impact upon adoptionwill likely depend on the characteristics of the Company's loan portfolio and economic conditions at that date, as well as forecasted conditions thereafter.
In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-08, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net). The guidance in this ASU provides clarification on the principal versus agent concept in relation to revenue recognition guidance issued as part of ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). Topic 606 requires a company to determine whether it is a principal or an agent in a transaction in which another party is involved in providing goods or services to a customer by evaluating the nature of its promise to the customer. ASU 2016-08 provides clarification for identifying the good, service or right being transferred in a revenue transaction and identifies the principal as the party that controls the good, service or right prior to its transfer to the customer. The ASU provides further clarity on how to evaluate control in this context. This guidance will become effective for the Company on January 1, 2018 and management is evaluating the impact of these changes as part of its overall evaluation of ASU 2014-09, discussed below. Based on its evaluations to date, management does not anticipate that this ASU will result in different conclusions regarding the Company's revenue arrangements that involve a principal-agent relationship, but any such changes that could occur would result only in classification differences on the statements of income with no impact on income before taxes, net income, financial condition or cash flows.
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). The guidance will require lessees to capitalize most leases on their balance sheet whereas under current GAAP only capital leases are recognized on the lessee’s balance sheet. Leases which today are identified as capital leases will generally be identified as financing leases under the new guidance but otherwise their accounting treatment will remain relatively unchanged. Leases identified today as operating leases will generally remain in that category under the new standard, but both a right-of-use asset and a liability for remaining lease payments will now be required to be recognized on the balance sheet for this type of lease. The manner in which expenses associated with all leases are reported on the income statement will remain mostly unchanged. Lessor accounting also remains substantially unchanged by the new standard. The new guidance will become effective for the Company on January 1, 2019, and management does not expect it to have a material impact on the condensed consolidated financial statements.
In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-01, Financial Instruments—Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities. The ASU will have limited impact on the Company since it does not change the guidance for classifying and measuring investments in debt securities or loans. The standard requires entities to measure certain cost-method equity investments at fair value with changes in value recognized in net income. Equity investments that do not have readily determinable fair values will be carried at cost, less any impairment, plus or minus changes resulting from any observable price changes in orderly transactions for an identical or similar investment of the same issuer. This ASU requires public entities to use the exit price notion when measuring the fair value of financial instruments for disclosure purposes and requires separate presentation of financial assets and financial liabilities by measurement category and form of financial asset (i.e., securities or loans) on the balance sheet or the accompanying notes to the financial statements. This ASU will become effective for the Company on January 1, 2018 and is not expected to have a material impact to the financial statements.
In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). The guidance in this ASU supersedes existing revenue recognition requirements in Topic 605, Revenue Recognition, including an assortment of transaction-specific and industry-specific rules. The new revenue recognition model will become effective for the Company on January 1, 2018.
This ASU establishes a principles-based model under which revenue from a contract is allocated to the distinct performance obligations within the contract and recognized in income as each performance obligation is satisfied. ASU Topic 606 does not apply to rights or obligations associated with financial instruments (for example, interest income from loans or investments, or interest expense on debt), and therefore the Company’s net interest income should not be affected. The Company’s revenue from discount and interchange, protection products, transaction processing and certain fees are within the scope of these rules. Management has followed the discussions of the FASB subsequent to the issuance of the ASU, and evaluated the conclusions published by its Transition Resource Group ("TRG"), specifically those pertaining to how the new revenue recognition rules should be interpreted for credit card arrangements, loyalty programs, and transaction processing arrangements. Those discussions support the conclusion that timing and measurement of fee revenues associated with the

Company’s credit card arrangements and costs associated with the Company’s credit card reward programs will not be impacted by the new rules. The FASB TRG discussions and guidance also support the conclusion that the timing and measurement of revenue associated with the Company’s transaction processing services, including discount and interchange and other transaction processing fees, will remain substantially unchanged under the new accounting model. This conclusion covers the vast majority of the Company’s revenue that is within the scope of the new standard.
Upon adoption in 2018, the Company will record an adjustment, if needed, to retained earnings as of the beginning of the year of initial application, which can be either the earliest comparative period presented, with all periods presented under the new rules, or January 1, 2018, without restating prior periods presented. While management continues to evaluate the remaining in-scope revenue items to determine what, if any, impact the rules will have on their accounting and reporting, no material impacts are expected. At this time, management does not anticipate a restatement of prior period amounts when the standard becomes effective.
Business Dispositions
On June 16, 2015, the Company announced the closing of the mortgage origination business it acquired in 2012, which was part of its Direct Banking segment. The disposition represented the exiting of an ancillary business and did not have a major impact on the Company’s operations.
2.Investments
The Company’s investment securities consist of the following (dollars in millions):
September 30,
2017
 December 31,
2016
June 30,
2018
 December 31,
2017
U.S. Treasury securities(1)
$673
 $674
$674
 $672
States and political subdivisions of states1
 2

 1
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency(2)
953
 1,081
848
 895
Total investment securities$1,627
 $1,757
$1,522
 $1,568
      
(1)Includes $32 million and $73$48 million of U.S. Treasury securities pledged as swap collateral as of SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016,2017, respectively.
(2)Consists of residential mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae.

The amortized cost, gross unrealized gains and losses, and fair value of available-for-sale and held-to-maturity investment securities are as follows (dollars in millions):
Amortized
Cost
 
Gross
Unrealized
Gains
 
Gross
Unrealized
Losses
 Fair Value
Amortized
Cost
 
Gross
Unrealized
Gains
 
Gross
Unrealized
Losses
 Fair Value
At September 30, 2017       
At June 30, 2018       
Available-for-Sale Investment Securities(1)
       
U.S. Treasury securities$675
 $
 $(1) $674
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency639
 
 (17) 622
Total available-for-sale investment securities$1,314
 $
 $(18) $1,296
Held-to-Maturity Investment Securities(2)
       
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency(3)
$226
 $
 $(4) $222
Total held-to-maturity investment securities$226
 $
 $(4) $222
       
At December 31, 2017       
Available-for-Sale Investment Securities(1)
              
U.S. Treasury securities$676
 $
 $(3) $673
$675
 $
 $(3) $672
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency776
 3
 (3) 776
728
 1
 (6) 723
Total available-for-sale investment securities$1,452
 $3
 $(6) $1,449
$1,403
 $1
 $(9) $1,395
Held-to-Maturity Investment Securities(2)
              
States and political subdivisions of states$1
 $
 $
 $1
$1
 $
 $
 $1
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency(3)
177
 2
 
 179
172
 1
 (1) 172
Total held-to-maturity investment securities$178
 $2
 $
 $180
$173
 $1
 $(1) $173
              
At December 31, 2016       
Available-for-Sale Investment Securities(1)
       
U.S. Treasury securities$676
 $
 $(2) $674
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency934
 2
 (5) 931
Total available-for-sale investment securities$1,610
 $2
 $(7) $1,605
Held-to-Maturity Investment Securities(2)
       
States and political subdivisions of states$2
 $
 $
 $2
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency(3)
150
 1
 (1) 150
Total held-to-maturity investment securities$152
 $1
 $(1) $152
       
(1)Available-for-sale investment securities are reported at fair value.
(2)Held-to-maturity investment securities are reported at amortized cost.
(3)Amounts represent residential mortgage-backed securities that were classified as held-to-maturity as they were entered into as a part of the Company's community reinvestment initiatives.

The following table provides information about investment securities with aggregate gross unrealized losses and the length of time that individual investment securities have been in a continuous unrealized loss position (dollars in millions):
Number of
Securities
in a Loss
Position
 Less than 12 months More than 12 monthsNumber of Securities in a Loss Position Less than 12 months More than 12 months
 
Fair
Value
 
Unrealized
Losses
 
Fair
Value
 
Unrealized
Losses
 
Fair
Value
 
Unrealized
Losses
 
Fair
Value
 
Unrealized
Losses
At September 30, 2017         
Available-for-Sale Investment Securities         
U.S. Treasury securities1
 $673
 $(3) $
 $
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency14
 $245
 $(2) $80
 $(1)
         
At December 31, 2016         
At June 30, 2018         
Available-for-Sale Investment Securities                  
U.S. Treasury securities1
 $674
 $(2) $
 $
1
 $
 $
 $674
 $(1)
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency19
 $586
 $(5) $
 $
31
 $509
 $(12) $113
 $(5)
Held-to-Maturity Investment Securities                  
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency31
 $61
 $(1) $
 $
85
 $126
 $(2) $52
 $(2)
                  
At December 31, 2017         
Available-for-Sale Investment Securities         
U.S. Treasury securities1
 $
 $
 $672
 $(3)
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency27
 $457
 $(3) $132
 $(3)
Held-to-Maturity Investment Securities         
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency45
 $56
 $
 $38
 $(1)
         
Aggregate gross unrealized losses were not material for held-to-maturity investment securities as of September 30, 2017. There were no losses related to other-than-temporary impairments and no proceeds from sales or recognized gains and losses on available-for-sale securities during the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and 2016.

2017. See Note 7: Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income for unrealized gains and losses on available-for-sale securities during the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017.
The following table provides information about proceeds from sales, recognized gains and losses and net unrealized gains and losses on available-for-sale securities (dollars in millions):
 For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30,
 2017 2016 2017 2016
Net unrealized gain (loss) recorded in other comprehensive income, before-tax$1
 $(6) $3
 $23
Net unrealized gain (loss) recorded in other comprehensive income, after-tax$1
 $(4) $2
 $14
        
Maturities of available-for-sale debt securities and held-to-maturity debt securities are provided in the following table (dollars in millions):
 
One Year
or
Less
 
After One
Year
Through
Five Years
 
After Five
Years
Through
Ten Years
 
After Ten
Years
 Total
At June 30, 2018         
Available-for-Sale Investment Securities—Amortized Cost         
U.S. Treasury securities$675
 $
 $
 $
 $675
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency(1)

 90
 498
 51
 639
Total available-for-sale investment securities$675
 $90
 $498
 $51
 $1,314
Held-to-Maturity Investment Securities—Amortized Cost         
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency(1)
$
 $
 $
 $226
 $226
Total held-to-maturity investment securities$
 $
 $
 $226
 $226
Available-for-Sale Investment Securities—Fair Values         
U.S. Treasury securities$674
 $
 $
 $
 $674
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency(1)

 88
 484
 50
 622
Total available-for-sale investment securities$674
 $88
 $484
 $50
 $1,296
Held-to-Maturity Investment Securities—Fair Values         
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency(1)
$
 $
 $
 $222
 $222
Total held-to-maturity investment securities$
 $
 $
 $222
 $222
          
(1)Maturities of residential mortgage-backed securities are reflective of the contractual maturities of the investment.
Maturities of available-for-sale debt securities and held-to-maturity debt securities are provided in the table below (dollars in millions):
 
One Year
or
Less
 
After One
Year
Through
Five Years
 
After Five
Years
Through
Ten Years
 
After Ten
Years
 Total
At September 30, 2017         
Available-for-Sale Investment Securities—Amortized Cost         
U.S. Treasury securities$676
 $
 $
 $
 $676
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency
 73
 517
 186
 776
Total available-for-sale investment securities$676
 $73
 $517
 $186
 $1,452
Held-to-Maturity Investment Securities—Amortized Cost         
State and political subdivisions of states$
 $
 $
 $1
 $1
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency
 
 
 177
 177
Total held-to-maturity investment securities$
 $
 $
 $178
 $178
Available-for-Sale Investment Securities—Fair Values         
U.S. Treasury securities$673
 $
 $
 $
 $673
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency
 73
 517
 186
 776
Total available-for-sale investment securities$673
 $73
 $517
 $186
 $1,449
Held-to-Maturity Investment Securities—Fair Values         
State and political subdivisions of states$
 $
 $
 $1
 $1
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency
 
 
 179
 179
Total held-to-maturity investment securities$
 $
 $
 $180
 $180
          

Other Investments
As a part of the Company's community reinvestment initiatives, the Company has made equity investments in certain limited partnerships and limited liability companies that finance the construction and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing, as well as stimulate economic development in low to moderate income communities. These investments are accounted for using the equity method of accounting and are recorded within other assets. The related commitment for future investments is recorded in accrued expenses and other liabilities within the condensed consolidated statements of financial condition. The portion of each investment's operating results allocable to the Company reduces the carrying value of the investments and is recorded in other expense within the condensed consolidated statements of income. The Company further reduces the carrying value of the investments by recognizing any amounts that are in excess of future net tax benefits in other expense. The Company earns a return primarily through the receipt of tax credits allocated to the affordable housing projects and the community revitalization projects. These investments are not consolidated as the Company does not have a controlling financial interest in the entities. As of SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016,2017, the Company had outstanding investments in these entities of $349$275 million and $326$297 million, respectively, and related contingent liabilities of $99$63 million and $64$66 million, respectively. Of the above outstanding equity investments, the Company had $316$271 million and $270$288 million of investments related to affordable housing projects as of SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016,2017, respectively, which had $99$63 million and $64$66 million related contingent liabilities, respectively.

3.Loan Receivables
The Company has three loan portfolio segments: credit card loans, other loans and PCI loans.
The Company's classes of receivables within the three portfolio segments are depicted in the table below (dollars in millions):
The Company's classes of receivables within the three portfolio segments are depicted in the following table (dollars in millions):The Company's classes of receivables within the three portfolio segments are depicted in the following table (dollars in millions):
September 30,
2017
 December 31,
2016
June 30,
2018
 December 31,
2017
Loan receivables      
Credit card loans(1)
$63,475
 $61,522
$67,812
 $67,291
Other loans      
Personal loans7,397
 6,481
7,304
 7,374
Private student loans6,998
 6,393
7,260
 7,076
Other371
 274
571
 423
Total other loans14,766
 13,148
15,135
 14,873
PCI loans(2)
2,202
 2,584
1,842
 2,084
Total loan receivables80,443
 77,254
84,789
 84,248
Allowance for loan losses(2,531) (2,167)(2,828) (2,621)
Net loan receivables$77,912
 $75,087
$81,961
 $81,627
      
(1)
Amounts include carrying values of $21.521.1 billion and $20.8$21.2 billion in underlying investors’ interest in trust debt at SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016,2017, respectively, and $8.38.4 billion and $10.8$9.9 billion in seller's interest at SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016,2017, respectively. See Note 4: Credit Card and Student Loan Securitization Activities for additional information.
(2)
Amounts include carrying values of $0.8 billion669 million and $1.4 billion of$762 million in loans pledged as collateral against the notes issued from the Student Loan Corporation ("SLC") securitization trusts at SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016,2017, respectively. See Note 4: Credit Card and Student Loan Securitization Activities for additional information.

Credit Quality Indicators
The Company regularly reviews its collection experience (including delinquencies and net charge-offs) in determining its allowance for loan losses.
Information related to the delinquent and non-accruing loans in the Company’s loan portfolio is shown below by each class of loan receivables except for PCI student loans, which is shown under the heading “— Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans” (dollars in millions):
30-89 Days
Delinquent
 
90 or
More Days
Delinquent
 
Total Past
Due
 
90 or
More Days
Delinquent
and
Accruing
 
Total
Non-accruing(1)
30-89 Days
Delinquent
 
90 or
More Days
Delinquent
 
Total Past
Due
 
90 or
More Days
Delinquent
and
Accruing
 
Total
Non-accruing(1)
At September 30, 2017         
At June 30, 2018         
Credit card loans(2)
$713
 $646
 $1,359
 $584
 $204
$723
 $743
 $1,466
 $681
 $204
Other loans    

        

    
Personal loans(3)
68
 26
 94
 25
 11
74
 30
 104
 29
 11
Private student loans (excluding PCI)(4)
114
 36
 150
 36
 
106
 46
 152
 45
 10
Other1
 1
 2
 
 10
1
 2
 3
 
 19
Total other loans (excluding PCI)183
 63
 246
 61
 21
181
 78
 259
 74
 40
Total loan receivables (excluding PCI)$896
 $709
 $1,605
 $645
 $225
$904
 $821
 $1,725
 $755
 $244
                  
At December 31, 2016         
At December 31, 2017         
Credit card loans(2)
$655
 $597
 $1,252
 $544
 $189
$781
 $751
 $1,532
 $693
 $203
Other loans    

        

    
Personal loans(3)
55
 19
 74
 18
 8
73
 30
 103
 28
 10
Private student loans (excluding PCI)(4)
106
 35
 141
 35
 
134
 33
 167
 33
 2
Other1
 1
 2
 
 19
3
 1
 4
 
 18
Total other loans (excluding PCI)162
 55
 217
 53
 27
210
 64
 274
 61
 30
Total loan receivables (excluding PCI)$817
 $652
 $1,469
 $597
 $216
$991
 $815
 $1,806
 $754
 $233
                  
 
(1)The Company estimates that the gross interest income that would have been recorded in accordance with the original terms of non-accruing credit card loans was $9$10 million and $8$9 million for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and 2016,2017, respectively, and $26$19 million and $23$17 million for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and 2016,2017, respectively. The Company does not separately track the amount of gross interest income that would have been recorded in accordance with the original terms of loans. This amount was estimated based on customers' current balances and most recent interest rates.
(2)
Credit card loans that are 90 or more days delinquent and accruing interest include $6385 million and $58$72 million of loans accounted for as troubled debt restructuringsTDRs at SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016,2017, respectively.
(3)
Personal loans that are 90 or more days delinquent and accruing interest include $45 million and $2 million of loans accounted for as troubled debt restructuringsTDRs at SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016, respectively.2017.
(4)
Private student loans that are 90 or more days delinquent and accruing interest include $47 million and $3$5 million of loans accounted for as troubled debt restructuringsTDRs at SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016.2017, respectively.


Information related to the net charge-offs in the Company's loan portfolio is shown below by each class of loan receivables except for PCI student loans, which is shown under the heading "— Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans" (dollars in millions):
For the Three Months Ended September 30,For the Three Months Ended June 30,
2017 20162018 2017
Net
Charge-offs
 
Net 
Charge-off
Rate
(1)
 Net
Charge-offs
 
Net 
Charge-off
Rate
(1)
Net
Charge-offs
 
Net 
Charge-off
Rate
(1)
 Net
Charge-offs
 
Net 
Charge-off
Rate
(1)
Credit card loans$439
 2.80% $314
 2.17%$555
 3.34% $445
 2.94%
Other loans              
Personal loans58
 3.19% 41
 2.63%72
 3.97% 54
 3.18%
Private student loans (excluding PCI)30
 1.52% 15
 1.02%21
 1.16% 20
 1.15%
Other
 % 
 %1
 0.34% 1
 0.30%
Total other loans88
 2.33% 56
 1.79%94
 2.48% 75
 2.14%
Net charge-offs (excluding PCI)$527
 2.71% $370
 2.10%$649
 3.18% $520
 2.79%
Net charge-offs (including PCI)$527
 2.63% $370
 2.02%$649
 3.11% $520
 2.71%
          
For the Nine Months Ended September 30,For the Six Months Ended June 30,
2017 20162018 2017
Net
Charge-off
Dollars
 
Net 
Charge-off
Rate
(1)
 
Net
Charge-off
Dollars
 
Net 
Charge-off
Rate
(1)
Net
Charge-off
Dollars
 
Net 
Charge-off
Rate
(1)
 
Net
Charge-off
Dollars
 
Net 
Charge-off
Rate
(1)
Credit card loans$1,306
 2.86% $974
 2.30%$1,095
 3.33% $867
 2.89%
Other loans              
Personal loans163
 3.18% 108
 2.49%145
 4.00% 105
 3.17%
Private student loans (excluding PCI)64
 1.17% 44
 0.99%43
 1.17% 34
 0.99%
Other3
 1.09% 
 %1
 0.23% 3
 1.79%
Total other loans230
 2.16% 152
 1.69%189
 2.50% 142
 2.08%
Net charge-offs (excluding PCI)$1,536
 2.73% $1,126
 2.19%$1,284
 3.18% $1,009
 2.74%
Net charge-offs (including PCI)$1,536
 2.65% $1,126
 2.10%$1,284
 3.10% $1,009
 2.65%
              
(1)Net charge-off rate represents net charge-off dollars (annualized) divided by average loans for the reporting period.
As part of credit risk management activities, on an ongoing basis, the Company reviews information related to the performance of a customer’s account with the Company as well as information from credit bureaus, such as FICO or other credit scores, relating to the customer’s broader credit performance. FICO scores are generally obtained at origination of the account and are refreshed monthly or quarterly thereafter to assist in predicting customer behavior. Historically, the Company has noted that a significant portion of delinquent accounts have FICO scores below 660.
The following table provides the most recent FICO scores available for the Company’s customers as a percentage of each class of loan receivables:
Credit Risk Profile
by FICO Score
Credit Risk Profile
by FICO Score
660 and 
Above
 
Less than 660
or No Score
660 and 
Above
 
Less than 660
or No Score
At September 30, 2017   
At June 30, 2018   
Credit card loans81% 19%82% 18%
Personal loans95% 5%95% 5%
Private student loans (excluding PCI)(1)
96% 4%94% 6%
      
At December 31, 2016   
At December 31, 2017   
Credit card loans82% 18%82% 18%
Personal loans96% 4%95% 5%
Private student loans (excluding PCI)(1)
95% 5%95% 5%
      
(1)PCI loans are discussed under the heading "— Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans."

For private student loans, additional credit risk management activities include monitoring the amount of loans in forbearance. Forbearance allows borrowers experiencing temporary financial difficulties and willing to make payments, the

ability to temporarily suspend payments. Eligible borrowers have a lifetime cap on forbearance of 12 months. At SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016,2017, there were $27$40 million and $19$29 million, respectively, of private student loans, including PCI, in forbearance, representing 0.5%0.7% and 0.3%0.5%, respectively, of total student loans in repayment and forbearance.
Allowance for Loan Losses
The following tables provide changes in the Company’s allowance for loan losses (dollars in millions):
For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2017For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2018
Credit Card Personal Loans 
Student Loans(1)
 Other TotalCredit Card Personal Loans 
Student Loans(1)
 Other Total
Balance at beginning of period$1,980
 $235
 $159
 $10
 $2,384
$2,252
 $301
 $170
 $13
 $2,736
Additions                  
Provision for loan losses550
 91
 34
 (1) 674
637
 84
 22
 (1) 742
Deductions                  
Charge-offs(555) (64) (32) 
 (651)(684) (80) (24) (1) (789)
Recoveries116
 6
 2
 
 124
129
 8
 3
 
 140
Net charge-offs(439) (58) (30) 
 (527)(555) (72) (21) (1) (649)
Other(2)

 
 (1) 
 (1)
Balance at end of period$2,091
 $268
 $163
 $9
 $2,531
$2,334
 $313
 $170
 $11
 $2,828
                  
For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2016For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2017
Credit Card Personal Loans 
Student Loans(1)
 Other TotalCredit Card Personal Loans 
Student Loans(1)
 Other Total
Balance at beginning of period$1,603
 $176
 $151
 $19
 $1,949
$1,892
 $207
 $156
 $9
 $2,264
Additions                  
Provision for loan losses372
 51
 21
 1
 445
533
 82
 23
 2
 640
Deductions                  
Charge-offs(425) (46) (17) 
 (488)(561) (61) (22) (1) (645)
Recoveries111
 5
 2
 
 118
116
 7
 2
 
 125
Net charge-offs(314) (41) (15) 
 (370)(445) (54) (20) (1) (520)
Balance at end of period$1,661
 $186
 $157
 $20
 $2,024
$1,980
 $235
 $159
 $10
 $2,384
                  
For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017
Credit Card Personal Loans 
Student Loans(1)
 Other Total
Balance at beginning of period$1,790
 $200
 $158
 $19
 $2,167
Additions         
Provision for loan losses1,607
 231
 69
 (7) 1,900
Deductions         
Charge-offs(1,651) (182) (71) (3) (1,907)
Recoveries345
 19
 7
 
 371
Net charge-offs(1,306) (163) (64) (3) (1,536)
Balance at end of period$2,091
 $268
 $163
 $9
 $2,531
         
For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016
Credit Card Personal Loans 
Student Loans(1)
 Other Total
Balance at beginning of period$1,554
 $155
 $143
 $17
 $1,869
Additions         
Provision for loan losses1,081
 139
 58
 3
 1,281
Deductions         
Charge-offs(1,312) (123) (51) 
 (1,486)
Recoveries338
 15
 7
 
 360
Net charge-offs(974) (108) (44) 
 (1,126)
Balance at end of period$1,661
 $186
 $157
 $20
 $2,024
         
(1) Includes both PCI and non-PCI private student loans.(1) Includes both PCI and non-PCI private student loans.
(2) Net change in reserves on PCI pools having no remaining non-accretable difference.(2) Net change in reserves on PCI pools having no remaining non-accretable difference.

The following tables provide changes in the Company’s allowance for loan losses (dollars in millions): 
 For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2018
 Credit Card Personal Loans 
Student Loans(1)
 Other Total
Balance at beginning of period$2,147
 $301
 $162
 $11
 $2,621
Additions         
Provision for loan losses1,282
 157
 53
 1
 1,493
Deductions         
Charge-offs(1,347) (161) (49) (1) (1,558)
Recoveries252
 16
 6
 
 274
Net charge-offs(1,095) (145) (43) (1) (1,284)
Other(2)

 
 (2) 
 (2)
Balance at end of period$2,334
 $313
 $170
 $11
 $2,828
          
 For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2017
 Credit Card Personal Loans 
Student Loans(1)
 Other Total
Balance at beginning of period$1,790
 $200
 $158
 $19
 $2,167
Additions         
Provision for loan losses1,057
 140
 35
 (6) 1,226
Deductions         
Charge-offs(1,096) (118) (39) (3) (1,256)
Recoveries229
 13
 5
 
 247
Net charge-offs(867) (105) (34) (3) (1,009)
Balance at end of period$1,980
 $235
 $159
 $10
 $2,384
          
(1)Includes both PCI and non-PCI private student loans.
(2)Net change in reserves on PCI pools having no remaining non-accretable difference.
Net charge-offs of principal are recorded against the allowance for loan losses, as shown in the preceding table. Information regarding net charge-offs of interest and fee revenues on credit card and other loans is as follows (dollars in millions): 
 For the Three Months Ended June 30, For the Six Months Ended June 30,
 2018 2017 2018 2017
Interest and fees accrued subsequently charged off, net of recoveries (recorded as a reduction of interest income)$110
 $87
 $219
 $171
Fees accrued subsequently charged off, net of recoveries (recorded as a reduction to other income)$28
 $23
 $55
 $45
        

Net charge-offs of principal are recorded against the allowance for loan losses, as shown in the preceding table. Information regarding net charge-offs of interest and fee revenues on credit card and other loans is as follows (dollars in millions): 
 For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30,
 2017 2016 2017 2016
Interest and fees accrued subsequently charged off, net of recoveries (recorded as a reduction of interest income)$87
 $65
 $258
 $201
Fees accrued subsequently charged off, net of recoveries (recorded as a reduction to other income)$20
 $15
 $65
 $49
        
The following tables provide additional detail of the Company’s allowance for loan losses and recorded investment in its loan portfolio by impairment methodology (dollars in millions):
Credit Card 
Personal
Loans
 
Student
Loans(1)
 
Other
Loans
 TotalCredit Card 
Personal
Loans
 
Student
Loans(1)
 
Other
Loans
 Total
At September 30, 2017         
At June 30, 2018         
Allowance for loans evaluated for impairment as                  
Collectively evaluated for impairment in accordance with ASC 450-20$1,889
 $241
 $112
 $3
 $2,245
$2,074
 $276
 $121
 $4
 $2,475
Evaluated for impairment in accordance with
ASC 310-10-35(2)(3)
202
 27
 20
 6
 255
260
 37
 22
 7
 326
Acquired with deteriorated credit quality, evaluated in accordance with ASC 310-30
 
 31
 
 31

 
 27
 
 27
Total allowance for loan losses$2,091
 $268
 $163
 $9
 $2,531
$2,334
 $313
 $170
 $11
 $2,828
Recorded investment in loans evaluated for impairment as                  
Collectively evaluated for impairment in accordance with ASC 450-20$62,295
 $7,298
 $6,872
 $324
 $76,789
$66,114
 $7,174
 $7,099
 $516
 $80,903
Evaluated for impairment in accordance with
ASC 310-10-35(2)(3)
1,180
 99
 126
 47
 1,452
1,698
 130
 161
 55
 2,044
Acquired with deteriorated credit quality, evaluated in accordance with ASC 310-30
 
 2,202
 
 2,202

 
 1,842
 
 1,842
Total recorded investment$63,475
 $7,397
 $9,200
 $371
 $80,443
$67,812
 $7,304
 $9,102
 $571
 $84,789
                  
At December 31, 2016         
At December 31, 2017         
Allowance for loans evaluated for impairment as                  
Collectively evaluated for impairment in accordance with ASC 450-20$1,623
 $179
 $105
 $3
 $1,910
$1,921
 $269
 $112
 $4
 $2,306
Evaluated for impairment in accordance with
ASC 310-10-35(2)(3)
167
 21
 18
 16
 222
226
 32
 21
 7
 286
Acquired with deteriorated credit quality, evaluated in accordance with ASC 310-30
 
 35
 
 35

 
 29
 
 29
Total allowance for loan losses$1,790
 $200
 $158
 $19
 $2,167
$2,147
 $301
 $162
 $11
 $2,621
Recorded investment in loans evaluated for impairment as                  
Collectively evaluated for impairment in accordance with ASC 450-20$60,437
 $6,400
 $6,307
 $219
 $73,363
$65,975
 $7,263
 $6,939
 $370
 $80,547
Evaluated for impairment in accordance with
ASC 310-10-35(2)(3)
1,085
 81
 86
 55
 1,307
1,316
 111
 137
 53
 1,617
Acquired with deteriorated credit quality, evaluated in accordance with ASC 310-30
 
 2,584
 
 2,584

 
 2,084
 
 2,084
Total recorded investment$61,522
 $6,481
 $8,977
 $274
 $77,254
$67,291
 $7,374
 $9,160
 $423
 $84,248
                  
(1)Includes both PCI and non-PCI private student loans.
(2)
Loan receivables evaluated for impairment in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC")ASC 310-10-35 include credit card loans, personal loans and student loans collectively evaluated for impairment in accordance with ASC Subtopic 310-40, Receivables, which consists of modified loans accounted for as troubled debt restructurings.TDRs. Other loans are individually evaluated for impairment and generally do not represent troubled debt restructurings.TDRs.
(3)
The unpaid principal balance of credit card loans was $1.01.5 billion and $0.9$1.1 billion at SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016,2017, respectively. The unpaid principal balance of personal loans was $97130 million and $79$109 million at SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016,2017, respectively. The unpaid principal balance of student loans was $124161 million and $84$135 million at SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016,2017, respectively. All loans accounted for as troubled debt restructuringsTDRs have a related allowance for loan losses.

Troubled Debt Restructurings
The Company has internal loan modification programs that provide relief to credit card, personal loan and student loan borrowers who aremay be experiencing financial hardship. The Company continually evaluates new programs to determine which of them meet the definition of a TDR. The internal loan modification programs include both temporary and permanent programs, which vary by product. External loan modification programs are also available for credit card and personal loans. Temporary and permanent modifications on credit card and personal loans, as well as temporary modifications on student loans and certain grants of student loan forbearance, result in the loans being considered individually impaired. In addition, loans that defaulted or graduated from modification programs or forbearance are considered to be individually impaired.
For credit card customers, the Company offers temporary hardship program primarily consistsprograms consisting of an interest rate reduction and in some cases a reduced minimum payment, and an interest rate reduction, both lasting for a period no longer than 12 months. The permanent workout program involves changing the structure of the loan to a fixed payment loan with a maturity no longer than 60 months and

reducing the interest rate on the loan. The permanent modification program does not normally provide for the forgiveness of unpaid principal, but may allow for the reversal of certain unpaid interest or fee assessments. The Company also makes permanent loan modifications for customers who request financial assistance through external sources, such as a consumer credit counseling agency program. These loans typically receive a reduced interest rate but continue to be subject to the original minimum payment terms and do not normally include waiver of unpaid principal, interest or fees. CreditModified credit card loans includedthat are deemed to meet the definition of TDRs includes loans in both temporary and permanent programs are accounted for as troubled debt restructurings.programs.
For personal loan customers, in certain situations the Company offers various payment programs, including temporary and permanent programs. The temporary programs normally consist of a reduction of the minimum payment for a period of no longer than 12 months with the option of a final balloon payment required at the end of the loan term or an extension of the maturity date with the total term not exceeding nine years. Further, in certain circumstances the interest rate on the loan is reduced. The permanent program involves changing the terms of the loan in order to pay off the outstanding balance over a longer term and also in certain circumstances reducing the interest rate on the loan. Similar to the temporary programs, the total term may not exceed nine years.years. The Company also allows permanent loan modifications for customers who request financial assistance through external sources, similar to the credit card customers discussed above. Payments are modified based on the new terms agreed upon with the credit counseling agency. Personal loans included in temporary and permanent programs are accounted for as troubled debt restructurings.TDRs.
To assist student loan borrowers who are experiencing temporary financial difficulties but are willing to resume making payments, the Company may offer hardship forbearance or programs that include payment deferral, temporary payment reduction, temporary interest rate reduction or extended terms. A modified loan typically meets the definition of a troubled debt restructuringTDR based on the cumulative length of the concession period and an evaluation of the credit quality of the borrower, based on FICO scores. Prior to the third quarter of 2016, only a second forbearance when the borrower was 30 days or greater delinquent was considered a troubled debt restructuring. The balance of student loans being accounted for as troubled debt restructurings has increased since then, although it has not led to significant changes in the balance of the overall allowance for loan losses.
The Company monitors borrower performance after using payment programs or forbearance and the Company believes the programs help to prevent defaults and are useful in assisting customers experiencing financial difficulties. The Company plans to continue to use payment programs and forbearance and, as a result, expects to have additional loans classified as troubled debt restructuringsTDRs in the future.

Additional information about modified loans classified as troubled debt restructurings is shown below (dollars in millions):
Additional information about modified loans classified as TDRs is shown below (dollars in millions):Additional information about modified loans classified as TDRs is shown below (dollars in millions):
Average recorded investment in loans 
Interest income recognized during period loans were impaired(1)
 
Gross interest income that would have been recorded with original terms(2)
Average recorded investment in loans 
Interest income recognized during period loans were impaired(1)
 
Gross interest income that would have been recorded with original terms(2)
For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2017     
For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2018     
Credit card loans(3)
$1,165
 $28
 $22
$1,604
 $41
 $32
Personal loans$96
 $2
 $1
$125
 $3
 $2
Private student loans$120
 $3
 $
$153
 $3
 $
          
For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2016     
For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2017     
Credit card loans(3)
$1,030
 $23
 $18
$1,137
 $25
 $22
Personal loans$74
 $2
 $1
$90
 $3
 $1
Private student loans$63
 $1
 $
$107
 $1
 $
          
For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017     
For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2018     
Credit card loans(3)
$1,137
 $78
 $64
$1,507
 $75
 $58
Personal loans$90
 $7
 $3
$120
 $6
 $3
Private student loans$107
 $6
 $
$147
 $6
 $
          
For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016     
For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2017     
Credit card loans(3)
$1,023
 $65
 $57
$1,122
 $50
 $42
Personal loans$71
 $6
 $2
$87
 $5
 $2
Private student loans$57
 $3
 $
$101
 $3
 $
          
(1)The Company does not separately track interest income on loans in modification programs. Amounts shown are estimated by applying an average interest rate to the average loans in the various modification programs.
(2)The Company does not separately track the amount of additional gross interest income that would have been recorded if the loans in modification programs had not been restructured and interest had instead been recorded in accordance with the original terms. Amounts shown are estimated by applying the difference between the average interest rate earned on non-impaired loans and the average interest rate earned on loans in the modification programs to the average loans in the modification programs.
(3)Includes credit card loans that were modified in troubled debt restructurings,TDRs, but are no longer enrolled in a troubled debt restructuringTDR program due to noncompliance with the terms of the modification or due to successful completion of a program.program after which charging privileges may be reinstated based on customer-level evaluation. The average balance of credit card loans that were no longer enrolled in a troubled debt restructuringTDR program was $345$397 million and $282$324 million, respectively, for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2018 and 2017, and 2016, and $327$391 million and $277$317 million, respectively, for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and 2016.2017.


In order to evaluate the primary financial effects that resulted from credit card loans entering into a loan modification program during the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and 2016,2017, the Company quantified the amount by which interest and fees were reduced during the periods. During the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and 2016,2017, the Company forgave approximately $10$11 million and $8$10 million, respectively, of interest and fees as a result of accounts entering into a credit card loan modification program. During the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and 2016,2017, the Company forgave approximately $31$23 million and $25$21 million, respectively, of interest and fees as a result of accounts entering into a credit card loan modification program.
The following table provides information on loans that entered a loan modification program during the period (dollars in millions):
 For the Three Months Ended June 30,
 2018 2017
 Number of Accounts Balances Number of Accounts Balances
Accounts that entered a loan modification program during the period       
Credit card loans56,003
 $363
 26,078
 $157
Personal loans1,836
 $23
 1,430
 $18
Private student loans1,046
 $21
 1,003
 $18
        
 For the Six Months Ended June 30,
 2018 2017
 Number of Accounts Balances Number of Accounts Balances
Accounts that entered a loan modification program during the period       
Credit card loans116,058
 $743
 56,971
 $338
Personal loans3,964
 $52
 2,993
 $36
Private student loans1,952
 $37
 2,020
 $35
        

The following table provides information on loans that entered a loan modification program during the period (dollars in millions):
 For the Three Months Ended September 30,
 2017 2016
 Number of Accounts Balances Number of Accounts Balances
Accounts that entered a loan modification program during the period       
Credit card loans28,582
 $164
 25,727
 $149
Personal loans1,580
 $20
 1,221
 $14
Private student loans965
 $17
 1,057
 $19
        
 For the Nine Months Ended September 30,
 2017 2016
 Number of Accounts Balances Number of Accounts Balances
Accounts that entered a loan modification program during the period       
Credit card loans85,553
 $502
 67,791
 $402
Personal loans4,573
 $56
 3,309
 $38
Private student loans2,985
 $52
 1,798
 $31
        
The following table presents the carrying value of loans that experienced a payment default during the period that had been modified in a troubled debt restructuring during the 15 months preceding the end of each period (dollars in millions):
The following table presents the carrying value of loans that experienced a payment default during the period that had been modified in a TDR during the 15 months preceding the end of each period (dollars in millions):The following table presents the carrying value of loans that experienced a payment default during the period that had been modified in a TDR during the 15 months preceding the end of each period (dollars in millions):
For the Three Months Ended September 30,For the Three Months Ended June 30,
2017 20162018 2017
Number of Accounts Aggregated Outstanding Balances Upon Default Number of Accounts Aggregated Outstanding Balances Upon DefaultNumber of Accounts Aggregated Outstanding Balances Upon Default Number of Accounts Aggregated Outstanding Balances Upon Default
Troubled debt restructurings that subsequently defaulted       
TDRs that subsequently defaulted       
Credit card loans(1)(2)
8,955
 $48
 6,797
 $36
8,970
 $49
 8,049
 $43
Personal loans(2)
463
 $6
 277
 $3
637
 $8
 341
 $4
Private student loans(3)
298
 $5
 197
 $3
204
 $3
 184
 $3
              
For the Nine Months Ended September 30,For the Six Months Ended June 30,
2017 20162018 2017
Number of Accounts Aggregated Outstanding Balances Upon Default Number of Accounts Aggregated Outstanding Balances Upon DefaultNumber of Accounts Aggregated Outstanding Balances Upon Default Number of Accounts Aggregated Outstanding Balances Upon Default
Troubled debt restructurings that subsequently defaulted       
TDRs that subsequently defaulted       
Credit card loans(1)(2)
25,170
 $135
 15,877
 $84
17,784
 $96
 16,215
 $87
Personal loans(2)
1,296
 $16
 711
 $8
1,212
 $16
 648
 $8
Private student loans(3)
667
 $11
 571
 $9
475
 $8
 369
 $6
              
(1)Terms revert back to the pre-modification terms for customers who default from a temporary program and charging privileges remain revoked in most cases.
(2)For credit card loans and personal loans, a customer defaults from a modification program after two consecutive missed payments. The outstanding balance upon default is generally the loan balance at the end of the month prior to default.
(3)
For student loans, defaults have been defined as loans that are 60 or more days delinquent. The outstanding balance upon default is generally the loan balance at the end of the month prior to default.
Of the account balances that defaulted as shown above for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2018 and 2017, and 2016, approximately 37%34% and 39%, respectively, of the total balances were charged off at the end of the month in which they defaulted. Of the account balances that defaulted as shown above for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2018 and 2017, approximately 36% and 2016, approximately 37%39%, respectively, of the total balances were charged off at the end of the month in which thatthey defaulted. For accounts that have defaulted from a loan modification program and have not been subsequently charged off, the balances are included in the allowance for loan loss analysis discussed above under "— Allowance for Loan Losses."

Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans
Purchased loans with evidence of credit deterioration since origination for which it is probable that not all contractually required payments will be collected are considered impaired at acquisition and are reported as PCI loans. The private student loans acquired in the SLC transaction, as well as the additional acquired private student loan portfolio comprise the Company’s only PCI loans at SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016.2017. Total PCI student loans had an outstanding balance of $2.31.9 billion and $2.7$2.2 billion, including accrued interest, and a related carrying amount of $2.2$1.8 billion and $2.6$2.1 billion as of SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016,2017, respectively.
The following table provides changes in accretable yield for the acquired loans during each period (dollars in millions):
For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30,For the Three Months Ended June 30, For the Six Months Ended June 30,
2017 2016 2017 20162018 2017 2018 2017
Balance at beginning of period$725
 $888
 $796
 $965
$633
 $755
 $669
 $796
Accretion into interest income(40) (46) (121) (142)(36) (40) (72) (81)
Other changes in expected cash flows21
 
 31
 19
11
 10
 11
 10
Balance at end of period$706
 $842
 $706
 $842
$608
 $725
 $608
 $725
              
Periodically, the Company updates the estimate of cash flows expected to be collected based on management's latest expectations of future net credit losses, borrower prepayments and certain other assumptions that affect cash flows. No

provision expense was recorded during the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and 2016.2017. The allowance for PCI loan losses at SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 20162017 was $31$27 million and $35 million.$29 million, respectively. For the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2018 and 2017, the increase in accretable yield was primarily driven by increases in the rates on variable loans. For the three months ended September 30, 2016, there were no changes in cash flow assumptions while for the nine months ended September 30, 2016, the increase in the rates on variablerate loans during the first half of 2016 was primarily responsible for an increase in accretable yield.2018 and 2017. Changes to accretable yield are recognized prospectively as an adjustment to yield over the remaining life of the pools.
At SeptemberJune 30, 2018, the 30 or more days delinquency and 90 or more days delinquency rates on PCI student loans (which include loans not yet in repayment) were 2.61% and 0.64%, respectively. At December 31, 2017, the 30 or more days delinquency and 90 or more days delinquency rates on PCI student loans (which include loans not yet in repayment) were 3.12%3.24% and 0.93%, respectively. At December 31, 2016, the 30 or more days delinquency and 90 or more days delinquency rates on PCI student loans (which include loans not yet in repayment) were 2.88% and 0.87%, respectively. These rates include private student loans that are greater than 120 days delinquent that are covered by an indemnification agreement or insurance arrangements through which the Company expects to recover a substantial portion of the loan. The net charge-off rate on PCI student loans was 0.90%0.31% and 0.45%0.64% for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and 2016,2017, respectively, and 0.69%0.66% and 0.45%0.58% for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and 2016,2017, respectively.
4.Credit Card and Student Loan Securitization Activities
The Company’s securitizations are accounted for as secured borrowings and the related trusts are treated as consolidated subsidiaries of the Company. For a description of the Company’s principles of consolidation with respect to VIEs, see Note 1: Background and Basis of Presentation of the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016.2017.
Credit Card Securitization Activities
The Company accesses the term asset securitization market through the Discover Card Master Trust I (“DCMT”) and the Discover Card Execution Note Trust (“DCENT”). Credit card loan receivables are transferred into DCMT and beneficial interests in DCMT are transferred into DCENT. Interests in DCENT are issuedissues debt securities to investors in the form of debt securities andthat are reported in long-term borrowings.
The DCENT debt structure consists of four classes of securities (DiscoverSeries Class A, B, C and D notes), with the most senior class generally receiving a triple-A rating. In order to issue senior, higher rated classes of notes, it is necessary to obtain the appropriate amount of credit enhancement, generally through the issuance of junior, lower rated or more highly subordinated classes of notes. The subordinated classes are held by wholly-owned subsidiaries of Discover Bank. The Company is exposed to credit-related risk of loss associated with trust assets as of the balance sheet date through the retention of these subordinated interests. The estimated probable incurred loss is included in the allowance for loan losses estimate.

The Company’s retained interests in the assets of the trusts, consisting of investments in DCENT notes held by subsidiaries of Discover Bank, constitute intercompany positions, which are eliminated in the preparation of the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of financial condition.
Upon transfer of credit card loan receivables to the trust, the receivables and certain cash flows derived from them become restricted for use in meeting obligations to the trusts’ creditors. Further, the transferred credit card loan receivables are owned by the trust and are not available to third-party creditors of the Company. The trusts have ownership of cash balances, the amounts of which are reported in restricted cash. With the exception of the seller’s interest in trust receivables, the Company’s interests in trust assets are generally subordinate to the interests of third-party investors and, as such, may not be realized by the Company if needed to absorb deficiencies in cash flows that are allocated to the investors in the trusts’ debt. Apart from the restricted assets related to securitization activities, the investors and the securitization trusts have no recourse to the Company’s other assets or the Company's general credit for a shortage in cash flows.

The carrying values of these restricted assets, which are presented on the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of financial condition as relating to securitization activities, are shown in the table below (dollars in millions):
The carrying values of these restricted assets, which are presented on the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of financial condition as relating to securitization activities, are shown in the following table (dollars in millions):The carrying values of these restricted assets, which are presented on the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of financial condition as relating to securitization activities, are shown in the following table (dollars in millions):
September 30,
2017
 December 31,
2016
June 30,
2018
 December 31,
2017
Restricted cash$1,224
 $23
$579
 $26
      
Investors’ interests held by third-party investors16,400
 15,625
15,975
 16,025
Investors’ interests held by wholly-owned subsidiaries of Discover Bank5,141
 5,189
5,129
 5,133
Seller’s interest8,340
 10,812
8,378
 9,861
Loan receivables(1)
29,881
 31,626
29,482
 31,019
Allowance for loan losses allocated to securitized loan receivables(1)
(990) (928)(1,020) (998)
Net loan receivables28,891
 30,698
28,462
 30,021
Other6
 4
6
 5
Carrying value of assets of consolidated variable interest entities$30,121
 $30,725
$29,047
 $30,052
      
(1)The Company maintains its allowance for loan losses at an amount sufficient to absorb probable losses inherent in all loan receivables, which includes all loan receivables in the trusts. Therefore, credit risk associated with the transferred receivables is fully reflected on the Company’s balance sheet in accordance with GAAP.
The debt securities issued by the consolidated trusts are subject to credit, payment and interest rate risks on the transferred credit card loan receivables. To protect investors in the securities, there are certain features or triggering events that could cause an early amortization of the debt securities, including triggers related to the impact of the performance of the trust receivables on the availability and adequacy of cash flows to meet contractual requirements. As of SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, no economic or other early amortization events have occurred.
The Company continues to own and service the accounts that generate the loan receivables held by the trusts. Discover Bank receives servicing fees from the trusts based on a percentage of the monthly investor principal balance outstanding. Although the fee income to Discover Bank offsets the fee expense to the trusts and thus is eliminated in consolidation, failure to service the transferred loan receivables in accordance with contractual requirements could lead to a termination of the servicing rights and the loss of future servicing income, net of related expenses.
Student Loan Securitization Activities
Student loan trust receivables underlying third-party investors’ interests are recorded in PCI loans and the related debt issued by the trusts is reported in long-term borrowings. The assets of the trusts are restricted from being sold or pledged as collateral for other borrowings and the cash flows from these restricted assets may be used only to pay obligations of the trusts. With the exception of the trusts’ restricted assets, the trusts and investors have no recourse to the Company’s other assets or the Company's general credit for a shortage in cash flows.
During the third quarter, one of the threeCurrently there are two trusts was dissolved after the debt was fully paid. The remaining loan balance and related allowance for loan lossesfrom which securities were transferredissued to Discover Bank with the dissolution of the trust.investors. Principal payments on the long-term secured borrowings are made as cash is collected on the underlying loans that are used as collateral on the secured borrowings. The Company does not have access to cash collected by the securitization trusts until cash is released in accordance with the trust indenture agreements and, for certain securitizations, no cash will be released to the Company until all outstanding trust borrowings have been repaid.agreements. Similar to the credit card securitizations, the Company continues to own

and service the accounts that generate the student loan receivables held by the trusts and receives servicing fees from the trusts based on either a percentage of the principal balance outstanding or a flat fee per borrower. Although the servicing fee income offsets the fee expense related to the trusts and thus is eliminated in consolidation, failure to service the transferred loan receivables in accordance with contractual requirements could lead to a termination of the servicing rights and the loss of future servicing income, net of related expenses.
Under terms of all the trust arrangements, the Company has the option, but not the obligation, to provide financial support to the trusts, but has never provided such support. A substantial portion of the credit risk associated with the securitized loans has been transferred to third parties under private credit insurance or indemnification arrangements.

The carrying values of these restricted assets, which are presented on the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of financial condition as relating to securitization activities, are shown in the table below (dollars in millions): 
 September 30,
2017
 December 31,
2016
Restricted cash$55
 $72
    
Student loan receivables(1)
808
 1,390
Allowance for loan losses allocated to securitized loan receivables(1)

 (27)
Net student loan receivables808
 1,363
Carrying value of assets of consolidated variable interest entities$863
 $1,435
    
The carrying values of these restricted assets, which are presented on the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of financial condition as relating to securitization activities, are shown in the following table (dollars in millions): 
 June 30,
2018
 December 31,
2017
Restricted cash$51
 $55
Student loan receivables669
 762
Carrying value of assets of consolidated variable interest entities$720
 $817
    
(1)The Company maintains its allowance for loan losses on PCI loans sufficient to absorb probable decreases in cash flows that were previously expected. Therefore, credit risk associated with the transferred receivables is fully reflected on the Company's balance sheet in accordance with GAAP. During the quarter, the outstanding borrowings from one of the student loan trusts were extinguished. The remaining loans in the trust and related allowance for loan losses were transferred to Discover Bank.
5.Deposits
The Company offers its deposit products to customers through two channels: (i) through direct marketing, internet origination and affinity relationships (“direct-to-consumer deposits”); and (ii) indirectly through contractual arrangements with securities brokerage firms (“brokered deposits”). Direct-to-consumer deposits include certificates of deposit, money market accounts, online savings and checking accounts and IRA certificates of deposit, while brokered deposits include certificates of deposit and sweep accounts.
The following table provides a summary of interest-bearing deposit accounts (dollars in millions):
September 30,
2017
 December 31,
2016
June 30,
2018
 December 31,
2017
Certificates of deposit in amounts less than $100,000$21,862
 $20,225
$23,740
 $23,768
Certificates of deposit in amounts $100,000 or greater(1)
6,031
 5,864
6,258
 5,984
Savings deposits, including money market deposit accounts27,690
 25,372
31,070
 28,413
Total interest-bearing deposits$55,583
 $51,461
$61,068
 $58,165
      
(1)Includes $1.5 billion and $1.4 billion in certificates of deposit equal to or greater than $250,000, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") insurance limit, as of SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016.2017, respectively.
The following table summarizes certificates of deposit in amounts of $100,000 or greater by contractual maturity (dollars in millions):
Maturity PeriodSeptember 30, 2017June 30, 2018
Three months or less$867
$880
Over three months through six months885
826
Over six months through twelve months1,529
1,932
Over twelve months2,750
2,620
Total$6,031
$6,258
  
The following table summarizes certificates of deposit maturing over the remainder of this year, over each of the next four years, and thereafter (dollars in millions):
YearSeptember 30, 2017June 30, 2018
2017$2,934
201810,847
$6,672
20194,524
9,097
20203,113
5,095
20212,178
3,573
20222,298
Thereafter4,297
3,263
Total$27,893
$29,998
  

6.Long-Term Borrowings
Long-term borrowings consist of borrowings having original maturities of one year or more. The following table provides a summary of the Company’s long-term borrowings and weighted-average interest rates on outstanding balances (dollars in millions):
September 30, 2017 December 31, 2016June 30, 2018 December 31, 2017
Maturity Interest
Rate
 Weighted-Average Interest Rate Outstanding Amount Outstanding AmountMaturity Interest
Rate
 Weighted-Average Interest Rate Outstanding Amount Outstanding Amount
Securitized Debt        
Fixed-rate asset-backed securities(1)
2017-2024 1.39%-2.53% 1.79% $10,121
 $9,868
2018-2024 1.39%-3.03% 1.92% $9,472
 $8,888
Floating-rate asset-backed securities(2)(3)
2018-2024 1.46%-1.83% 1.67% 6,209
 5,694
2018-2024 2.30%-2.67% 2.50% 6,362
 7,038
Total Discover Card Master Trust I and Discover Card Execution Note Trust 16,330
 15,562
 15,834
 15,926
        
Floating-rate asset-backed securities(7)(6)
2031-2036 1.49%-5.25% 3.00% 649
 849
2031-2036 2.65%-5.75% 3.97% 531
 610
Total SLC Private Student Loan Trusts 649
 849
 531
 610
Total long-term borrowings - owed to securitization investors 16,979
 16,411
 16,365
 16,536
        
Discover Financial Services (Parent Company)        
Fixed-rate senior notes(1)
2019-2027 3.75%-10.25% 4.25% 2,703
 2,090
2019-2027 3.75%-10.25% 4.25% 2,726
 2,710
Fixed-rate retail notes2017-2031 2.85%-4.40% 3.71% 274
 169
2018-2031 2.85%-4.60% 3.73% 348
 302
        
Discover Bank        
Fixed-rate senior bank notes(1)
2018-2026 2.00%-4.25% 3.21% 6,084
 6,077
2018-2026 2.60%-4.25% 3.37% 6,115
 6,080
Fixed-rate subordinated bank notes2019-2020 7.00%-8.70% 7.49% 697
 696
2019-2020 7.00%-8.70% 7.49% 698
 698
Total long-term borrowings $26,737
 $25,443
 $26,252
 $26,326
        
(1)The Company uses interest rate swaps to hedge portions of these long-term borrowings against changes in fair value attributable to changes in London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”("LIBOR"). Use of these interest rate swaps impacts carrying value of the debt. See Note 14: Derivatives and Hedging Activities.
(2)Discover Card Execution Note Trust floating-rate asset-backed securities include issuances with the following interest rate terms: 1-month LIBOR + 23 to 60 basis points as of SeptemberJune 30, 2017.2018.
(3)The Company uses interest rate swaps to manage its exposure to changes in interest rates related to future cash flows resulting from interest payments on a portion of these long-term borrowings. There is no impact on debt carrying value from use of these interest rate swaps. See Note 14: Derivatives and Hedging Activities for additional information.Activities.
(4)SLC Private Student Loan Trusts floating-rate asset-backed securities include issuances with the following interest rate terms: 3-month LIBOR + 1730 to 45 basis points and Prime rate + 100 basis points as of SeptemberJune 30, 2017.2018.
(5)The Company acquired an interest rate swap related to the securitized debt assumed in the SLC transaction which matured and is no longer outstanding as of September 30, 2017. The swap did not qualify for hedge accounting and had no impact on debt carrying value. See Note 14: Derivatives and Hedging Activities for additional information.
(6)Repayment of this debt is dependent upon the timing of principal and interest payments on the underlying student loans. The dates shown represent final maturity dates.
(7)(6)Includes $245$216 million of senior notes maturing in 2031 and $404$315 million of senior and subordinated notes maturing in 2036 as of SeptemberJune 30, 2017.2018.


The following table summarizes long-term borrowings maturing over the remainder of this year, over each of the next four years, and thereafter (dollars in millions):
YearSeptember 30, 2017June 30, 2018
2017$1,201
20185,271
$2,773
20195,994
5,993
20204,729
4,688
20211,040
1,564
20222,784
Thereafter8,502
8,450
Total$26,737
$26,252
  
The Company has access to committed undrawnborrowing capacity through private securitizations to support the funding of its credit card loan receivables. As of SeptemberJune 30, 20172018, the total commitment of secured credit facilities through private providers was $6.0 billion, none of which was drawn as of SeptemberJune 30, 2017.2018. Access to the unused portions of the secured credit facilities is subject to the terms of the agreements with each of the providers, which have various expirations in calendar years 2018 2019

through 2020. Borrowings outstanding under each facility bear interest at a margin above LIBOR or the asset-backed commercial paper costs of each individual conduit provider. The terms of each agreement provide for a commitment fee to be paid on the unused capacity and include various affirmative and negative covenants, including performance metrics and legal requirements similar to those required to issue any term securitization transaction.
7.Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
Changes in each component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) ("AOCI") were as follows (dollars in millions):
 
Unrealized (Loss) Gain on Available-for-Sale Investment Securities,
Net of Tax
 
Loss on Cash Flow Hedges,
Net of Tax
 
Loss on Pension Plan,
Net of Tax
 AOCI
For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2017       
Balance at June 30, 2017$(2) $(3) $(145) $(150)
Net change1
 1
 
 2
Balance at September 30, 2017$(1)
$(2)
$(145)
$(148)
        
For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2016       
Balance at June 30, 2016$18
 $(52) $(140) $(174)
Net change(4) 13
 
 9
Balance at September 30, 2016$14
 $(39) $(140) $(165)
        
For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017       
Balance at December 31, 2016$(3) $(13) $(145) $(161)
Net change2
 11
 
 13
Balance at September 30, 2017$(1) $(2) $(145) $(148)
        
For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016       
Balance at December 31, 2015$
 $(20) $(140) $(160)
Net change14
 (19) 
 (5)
Balance at September 30, 2016$14
 $(39) $(140) $(165)
        
Changes in each component of AOCI were as follows (dollars in millions):
 Unrealized Loss on Available-for-Sale Investment Securities, Net of Tax Gain (Loss) on Cash Flow Hedges, Net of Tax Loss on Pension Plan, Net of Tax AOCI
For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2018       
Balance at March 31, 2018$(12) $29
 $(156) $(139)
Cumulative effect of ASU No. 2018-02 adoption(1)
(1) 3
 (31) (29)
Net change(1) 7
 
 6
Balance at June 30, 2018$(14)
$39

$(187)
$(162)
        
For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2017       
Balance at March 31, 2017$(2) $(8) $(145) $(155)
Net change
 5
 
 5
Balance at June 30, 2017$(2) $(3) $(145) $(150)
        
For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2018       
Balance at December 31, 2017$(5) $10
 $(157) $(152)
Cumulative effect of ASU No. 2018-02 adoption(1)
(1) 3
 (31) (29)
Net change(8) 26
 1
 19
Balance at June 30, 2018$(14) $39
 $(187) $(162)
        
For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2017       
Balance at December 31, 2016$(3) $(13) $(145) $(161)
Net change1
 10
 
 11
Balance at June 30, 2017$(2) $(3) $(145) $(150)
        
(1)Represents the adjustment to AOCI as a result of adoption of ASU No. 2018-02 in the second quarter of 2018. See Note 1: Background and Basis of Presentation for additional information.

The table below presents each component of other comprehensive income (loss) ("OCI") before reclassifications and amounts reclassified from AOCI for each component of OCI before- and after-tax (dollars in millions):
The following table presents each component of other comprehensive income (loss) ("OCI") before reclassifications and amounts reclassified from AOCI for each component of OCI before- and after-tax (dollars in millions):The following table presents each component of other comprehensive income (loss) ("OCI") before reclassifications and amounts reclassified from AOCI for each component of OCI before- and after-tax (dollars in millions):
Before Tax Tax (Expense) Benefit Net of TaxBefore Tax Tax Benefit (Expense) Net of Tax
For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2017     
Available-for-Sale Investment Securities     
Net unrealized holding gain arising during the period$1
 $
 $1
Net change$1
 $
 $1
Cash Flow Hedges     
Net unrealized loss arising during the period$(1) $1
 $
Amounts reclassified from AOCI3
 (2) 1
Net change$2
 $(1) $1
     
For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2016 
For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2018     
Available-for-Sale Investment Securities          
Net unrealized holding loss arising during the period$(6) $2
 $(4)$(1) $
 $(1)
Net change$(6) $2
 $(4)$(1) $
 $(1)
Cash Flow Hedges          
Net unrealized gain arising during the period$12
 $(5) $7
$10
 $(2) $8
Amounts reclassified from AOCI9
 (3) 6
(1) 
 (1)
Net change$21
 $(8) $13
$9
 $(2) $7
          
For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017     
For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2017     
Cash Flow Hedges     
Net unrealized gain arising during the period$3
 $(1) $2
Amounts reclassified from AOCI3
 
 3
Net change$6
 $(1) $5
     
For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2018     
Available-for-Sale Investment Securities     
Net unrealized holding loss arising during the period$(10) $2
 $(8)
Net change$(10) $2
 $(8)
Cash Flow Hedges     
Net unrealized gain arising during the period$34
 $(8) $26
Net change$34
 $(8) $26
Pension Plan     
Unrealized gain arising during the period$1
 $
 $1
Net change$1
 $
 $1
     
For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2017 
Available-for-Sale Investment Securities          
Net unrealized holding gain arising during the period$3
 $(1) $2
$2
 $(1) $1
Net change$3
 $(1) $2
$2
 $(1) $1
Cash Flow Hedges          
Net unrealized gain arising during the period$8
 $(3) $5
$9
 $(4) $5
Amounts reclassified from AOCI11
 (5) 6
8
 (3) 5
Net change$19
 $(8) $11
$17
 $(7) $10
          
For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016 
Available-for-Sale Investment Securities     
Net unrealized holding gain arising during the period$23
 $(9) $14
Net change$23
 $(9) $14
Cash Flow Hedges     
Net unrealized loss arising during the period$(58) $22
 $(36)
Amounts reclassified from AOCI27
 (10) 17
Net change$(31) $12
 $(19)
     

8.Income Taxes
The following table presents the calculation of the Company's effective income tax rate (dollars in millions, except effective income tax rate):
For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30,For the Three Months Ended June 30, For the Six Months Ended June 30,
2017 2016 2017 20162018 2017 2018 2017
Income before income tax expense$903
 $961
 $2,638
 $2,773
$877
 $867
 $1,733
 $1,735
Income tax expense$301
 $322
 $926
 $943
$208
 $321
 $398
 $625
Effective income tax rate33.3% 33.5% 35.1% 34.0%23.7% 37.1% 23.0% 36.0%
              
Income tax expense decreased $21$113 million and $17$227 million, respectively, for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017, respectively,2018, as compared to the same periods in 2016.2017. The effective tax raterates decreased 13.4% and 13.0%, respectively, for the three and six months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017 of 33.3% decreased from 33.5% for2018 as compared to the same periodperiods in 20162017. The decrease in rates is primarily due to a reduction in the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate from 35% to 21% offset by other effects of TCJA. For the six months ended June 30, 2018, the effective tax rate was also favorably impacted by the resolution of certain tax matters. The effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 of 35.1% increased from 34.0% for the same period in 2016 primarily due to the settlement with the United States Congress Joint Committee on Taxation ("USCJCT") that occurred in 2016.
The Company is subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") and tax authorities in various state, local and foreign tax jurisdictions. The Company regularly assesses the likelihood of additional assessments or settlements in each of the taxing jurisdictions resulting from these and subsequent years' examinations. The IRS Administrative Office of Appeals concluded its review of the 2008-2010 federal audit and forwarded the Special Report to the USCJCT for approval. The final determination is not expected to significantly impact the Company’s financial statements. The IRS is currently examining the years 2011-2015. At this time, the potential change in unrecognized tax benefits is not expected to be significant over the next 12 months. The Company believes that its reserves are sufficient to cover any tax, penalties and interest that would result from such examinations.
9.Earnings Per Share
The following table presents the calculation of basic and diluted earnings per share ("EPS") (in millions, except per share amounts):
For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30,For the Three Months Ended June 30, For the Six Months Ended June 30,
2017 2016 2017 20162018 2017 2018 2017
Numerator              
Net income$602
 $639
 $1,712
 $1,830
$669
 $546
 $1,335
 $1,110
Preferred stock dividends(9) (9) (28) (28)
 (10) (16) (19)
Net income available to common stockholders593
 630
 1,684
 1,802
669
 536
 1,319
 1,091
Income allocated to participating securities(4) (5) (12) (13)(6) (4) (10) (8)
Net income allocated to common stockholders$589
 $625
 $1,672
 $1,789
$663
 $532
 $1,309
 $1,083
Denominator              
Weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding371
 402
 379
 410
348
 379
 351
 382
Effect of dilutive common stock equivalents
 
 
 
Weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding and common stock equivalents371
 402
 379
 410
348
 379
 351
 382
              
Basic earnings per common share$1.59
 $1.56
 $4.42
 $4.37
$1.91
 $1.41
 $3.73
 $2.83
Diluted earnings per common share$1.59
 $1.56
 $4.42
 $4.36
$1.91
 $1.40
 $3.72
 $2.83
              
Anti-dilutiveThere were no anti-dilutive securities were not material and had no impact on the computation of diluted EPS for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and 2016.2017.

10.Capital Adequacy
The Company is subject to the capital adequacy guidelines of the Federal Reserve, and Discover Bank, the Company’s main banking subsidiary, is subject to various regulatory capital requirements as administered by the FDIC. Failure to meet minimum capital requirements can result in the initiation of certain mandatory and possibly additional discretionary actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a direct material effect on the financial position and results of the Company and Discover Bank. Under capital adequacy guidelines and the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action, the Company and Discover Bank must meet specific capital guidelines that involve quantitative measures of assets, liabilities and certain off-balance sheet items, as calculated under regulatory guidelines. Capital amounts and classification are also subject to qualitative judgments by the regulators about components, risk weightings and other factors.
In 2013, the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the FDIC issued final capital rules under the Basel Committee’s December 2010 framework (referred to as “Basel III”) establishing a new comprehensive capital framework for U.S. banking organizations. The final capital rules ("Basel III rules") substantially revise Basel I rules regarding the risk-based capital requirements applicable to bank holding companies and depository institutions, including the Company. The Basel III rules, which became effective for the Company on January 1, 2015.2015, are subject to phase-in periods through the end of 2018 (the "transition period"). This timing is based on the Company being classified as a "Standardized Approach" entity.
Among other things, the Basel III rules (i) introduced a new capital measure called Common Equity Tier 1 (“CET1”), (ii) specify that Tier 1 capital consists of CET1 and additional Tier 1 capital instruments meeting specified requirements, (iii) apply most deductions/adjustments to regulatory capital measures to CET1 and not to the other components of capital, thus potentially requiring higher levels of CET1 in order to meet minimum ratios and (iv) expand the scope of the deductions/adjustments from capital as compared to existing regulations.
The Basel III minimum capital ratios are as follows:
8.0% Total capital (i.e., Tier 1 plus Tier 2) to risk-weighted assets;
6.0% Tier 1 capital (i.e., CET1 plus Additional Tier 1) to risk-weighted assets;
4.0% Tier 1 capital to average consolidated assets as reported on consolidated financial statements (known as the “leverage ratio”); and
4.5% CET1 to risk-weighted assets.
As of SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, the Company and Discover Bank met all Basel III minimum capital ratio requirements to which they were subject. The Company and Discover Bank also met the requirements to be considered "well-capitalized" under Regulation Y and prompt corrective action regulations, respectively, and there have been no conditions or events that management believes have changed the Company's or Discover Bank's category. To be categorized as “well-capitalized,” the Company and Discover Bank must maintain minimum capital ratios as set forth in the table below.

The following table shows the actual capital amounts and ratios of the Company and Discover Bank and comparisons of each to the regulatory minimum and “well-capitalized” requirements (dollars in millions):
The following table shows the actual capital amounts and ratios of the Company and Discover Bank and comparisons of each to the regulatory minimum and “well-capitalized” requirements (dollars in millions):
The following table shows the actual capital amounts and ratios of the Company and Discover Bank and comparisons of each to the regulatory minimum and “well-capitalized” requirements (dollars in millions):
Actual 
Minimum Capital
Requirements
 
Capital Requirements
To Be Classified as
Well-Capitalized
Actual 
Minimum Capital
Requirements
 
Capital Requirements
To Be Classified as
Well-Capitalized
Amount Ratio Amount Ratio 
Amount(1)
 
Ratio(1)
Amount 
Ratio(1)
 Amount Ratio 
Amount(2)
 
Ratio(2)
September 30, 2017        
June 30, 2018        
Total capital (to risk-weighted assets)                
Discover Financial Services$12,230
 14.7% $6,667
 ≥8.0% $8,334
 ≥10.0%$11,872
 13.6% $6,958
 ≥8.0% $8,698
 ≥10.0%
Discover Bank$12,561
 15.2% $6,602
 ≥8.0% $8,252
 ≥10.0%$12,455
 14.5% $6,883
 ≥8.0% $8,604
 ≥10.0%
Tier 1 capital (to risk-weighted assets)                
Discover Financial Services$10,979
 13.2% $5,000
 ≥6.0% $5,000
 ≥6.0%$10,659
 12.3% $5,219
 ≥6.0% $5,219
 ≥6.0%
Discover Bank$10,732
 13.0% $4,951
 ≥6.0% $6,602
 ≥8.0%$10,718
 12.5% $5,163
 ≥6.0% $6,883
 ≥8.0%
Tier 1 capital (to average assets)                
Discover Financial Services$10,979
 11.4% $3,842
 ≥4.0% N/A
 N/A$10,659
 10.5% $4,063
 ≥4.0% N/A
 N/A
Discover Bank$10,732
 11.3% $3,805
 ≥4.0% $4,756
 ≥5.0%$10,718
 10.7% $4,022
 ≥4.0% $5,028
 ≥5.0%
CET1 capital (to risk-weighted assets) (Basel III transition)        
CET1 capital (to risk-weighted assets)        
Discover Financial Services$10,419
 12.5% $3,750
 ≥4.5% N/A
 N/A$10,096
 11.6% $3,914
 ≥4.5% N/A
 N/A
Discover Bank$10,732
 13.0% $3,714
 ≥4.5% $5,364
 ≥6.5%$10,718
 12.5% $3,872
 ≥4.5% $5,593
 ≥6.5%
                
December 31, 2016        
December 31, 2017        
Total capital (to risk-weighted assets)                
Discover Financial Services$12,445
 15.5% $6,408
 ≥8.0% $8,010
 ≥10.0%$11,952
 13.8% $6,946
 ≥8.0% $8,683
 ≥10.0%
Discover Bank$12,334
 15.5% $6,346
 ≥8.0% $7,932
 ≥10.0%$12,364
 14.4% $6,872
 ≥8.0% $8,589
 ≥10.0%
Tier 1 capital (to risk-weighted assets)                
Discover Financial Services$11,152
 13.9% $4,806
 ≥6.0% $4,806
 ≥6.0%$10,677
 12.3% $5,210
 ≥6.0% $5,210
 ≥6.0%
Discover Bank$10,450
 13.2% $4,759
 ≥6.0% $6,346
 ≥8.0%$10,533
 12.3% $5,154
 ≥6.0% $6,872
 ≥8.0%
Tier 1 capital (to average assets)                
Discover Financial Services$11,152
 12.3% $3,624
 ≥4.0% N/A
 N/A$10,677
 10.8% $3,949
 ≥4.0% N/A
 N/A
Discover Bank$10,450
 11.6% $3,591
 ≥4.0% $4,488
 ≥5.0%$10,533
 10.8% $3,912
 ≥4.0% $4,890
 ≥5.0%
CET1 capital (to risk-weighted assets) (Basel III transition)        
CET1 capital (to risk-weighted assets)        
Discover Financial Services$10,592
 13.2% $3,604
 ≥4.5% N/A
 N/A$10,114
 11.6% $3,907
 ≥4.5% N/A
 N/A
Discover Bank$10,450
 13.2% $3,570
 ≥4.5% $5,156
 ≥6.5%$10,533
 12.3% $3,865
 ≥4.5% $5,583
 ≥6.5%
                
(1)Capital ratios are calculated based on the Basel III Standardized Approach rules, subject to applicable transition provisions.
(2)The Basel III rules do not establish well-capitalized thresholds for these measures for bank holding companies. Existing well-capitalized thresholds established in the Federal Reserve's Regulation Y have been included where available.
11.Commitments, Contingencies and Guarantees
In the normal course of business, the Company enters into a number of off-balance sheet commitments, transactions and obligations under guarantee arrangements that expose the Company to varying degrees of risk. The Company's commitments, contingencies and guarantee relationships are described below.

Commitments
Lease Commitments
The Company leases various office space and equipment under capital and non-cancelable operating leases, which expire at various dates through 2029. Future minimum payments on capital leases were not material at September 30, 2017. The following table shows future minimum payments on non-cancelable operating leases with original terms in excess of one year (dollars in millions):
The Company leases various office space and equipment under capital and non-cancelable operating leases, which expire at various dates through 2029. Future minimum payments on capital leases were not material at June 30, 2018. The following table shows future minimum payments on non-cancelable operating leases with original terms in excess of one year (dollars in millions):
The Company leases various office space and equipment under capital and non-cancelable operating leases, which expire at various dates through 2029. Future minimum payments on capital leases were not material at June 30, 2018. The following table shows future minimum payments on non-cancelable operating leases with original terms in excess of one year (dollars in millions):
September 30, 2017June 30, 2018
2017$3
201813
$7
201912
13
202011
11
202110
10
20227
Thereafter47
41
Total minimum lease payments$96
$89
  
Unused Commitments to Extend Credit Arrangements
At SeptemberJune 30, 20172018, the Company had unused commitments to extend credit arrangements for loans of approximately $188.3194.3 billion. Such commitmentsarrangements arise primarily from agreements with customers for unused lines of credit on certain credit cards and certain other loan products, provided there is no violation of conditions in the related agreements. These commitments,arrangements, substantially all of which the Company can terminate at any time and which do not necessarily represent future cash requirements, are periodically reviewed based on account usage, customer creditworthiness and loan qualification.
Contingencies
See Note 12: Litigation and Regulatory Matters for a description of potential liability arising from pending litigation or regulatory proceedings involving the Company.
Guarantees
The Company has obligations under certain guarantee arrangements, including contracts, indemnification agreements, and representations and warranties, which contingently require the Company to make payments to the guaranteed party based on changes in an underlying asset, liability or equity security of a guaranteed party, rate or index. Also included as guarantees are contracts that contingently require the Company to make payments to a guaranteed party based on another entity's failure to perform under an agreement. The Company's use of guarantees is disclosed below by type of guarantee.
Securitizations Representations and Warranties
As part of the Company’s financing activities, the Company provides representations and warranties that certain assets pledged as collateral in secured borrowing arrangements conform to specified guidelines. Due diligence is performed by the Company, which is intended to ensure that asset guideline qualifications are met. If the assets pledged as collateral do not meet certain conforming guidelines, the Company may be required to replace, repurchase or sell such assets. In its credit card securitization activities, the Company would replace nonconforming receivables through the allocation of excess seller’s interest or from additional transfers from the unrestricted pool of receivables. If the Company could not add enough receivables to satisfy the requirement, an early amortization (or repayment) of investors’ interests would be triggered. In its student loan securitizations, the Company would generally repurchase the loans from the trust at the outstanding principal amount plus interest.
The maximum potential amount of future payments the Company could be required to make would be equal to the current outstanding balances of third-party investor interests in credit card asset-backed securities, and the principal amount of any student loan secured borrowings, plus any unpaid interest for the corresponding secured borrowings. The Company has recorded substantially all of the maximum potential amount of future payments in long-term borrowings on the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of financial condition. The Company has not recorded any incremental contingent liability associated with its secured borrowing representations and warranties. Management believes that the

probability of having to replace, repurchase or sell assets pledged as collateral under secured borrowing arrangements, including an early amortization event, is low.
Mortgage Loans Representations and Warranties
The Company sold loans it originated to investors on a servicing-released basis and the risk of loss or default by the borrower is generally transferred to the investor. However, the Company was required by these investors to make certain representations and warranties relating to credit information, loan documentation and collateral. These representations and warranties may extend through the contractual life of the mortgage loan, even though the Company closed the mortgage origination business.business in 2015. Subsequent to the sale, if underwriting deficiencies, borrower fraud or documentation defects are discovered in individual mortgage loans, the Company may be obligated to repurchase the respective mortgage loan or indemnify the investors for any losses from borrower defaults if such deficiency or defect cannot be cured within the specified period following discovery. The Company has established a repurchase reserve based on expected losses. At SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, this amount was not material and was included in accrued expenses and other liabilities on the condensed consolidated statements of financial condition.
Counterparty Settlement Guarantees
Diners Club and DFS Services LLC (on behalf of PULSE) have various counterparty exposures, which are listed below.
Merchant Guarantee. Diners Club has entered into contractual relationships with certain international merchants, which generally include travel-related businesses, for the benefit of all Diners Club licensees. The licensees hold the primary liability to settle the transactions of their customers with these merchants. However, Diners Club retains a counterparty exposure if a licensee fails to meet its financial payment obligation to one of these merchants.
ATM Guarantee. PULSE entered into contractual relationships with certain international ATM acquirers in which DFS Services LLC retains counterparty exposure if an issuer fails to fulfill its settlement obligation.
Network Alliance Guarantee. Discover Network, Diners Club and PULSE have entered into contractual relationships with certain international payment networks in which DFS Services LLC retains the counterparty exposure if a network fails to fulfill its settlement obligation.
The maximum potential amount of future payments related to such contingent obligations is dependent upon the transaction volume processed between the time a potential counterparty defaults on its settlement and the time at which the Company disables the settlement of any further transactions for the defaulting party. However, there is no limitation on the maximum amount the Company may be liable to pay. The actual amount of the potential exposure cannot be quantified as the Company cannot determine whether particular counterparties will fail to meet their settlement obligations.
While the Company has some contractual remedies to offset these counterparty settlement exposures (such as letters of credit or pledged deposits), in the event that all licensees and/or issuers were to become unable to settle their transactions, the Company estimates its maximum potential counterparty exposures to these settlement guarantees, based on historical transaction volume, would be $158$149 million for merchant guarantees as of SeptemberJune 30, 2017.2018. The maximum potential counterparty exposures to these settlement guarantees for ATM guarantees would be immaterial as of SeptemberJune 30, 2017.2018. The maximum potential counterparty exposures for network alliance guarantees would be $34$31 million as of SeptemberJune 30, 2017.2018.
The Company believes that the estimated amounts of maximum potential future payments are not representative of the Company's actual potential loss exposure given Diners Club's and PULSE's insignificant historical losses from these counterparty exposures. As of SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, the Company had not recorded any contingent liability in the consolidated financial statements for these counterparty exposures, and management believes that the probability of any payments under these arrangements is low.
Discover Network Merchant Chargeback Guarantees
The Company operates the Discover Network, issues payment cards and permits third parties to issue payment cards. The Company is contingently liable for certain transactions processed on the Discover Network in the event of a dispute between the payment card customer and a merchant. The contingent liability arises if the disputed transaction involves a

merchant or merchant acquirer with whom the Discover Network has a direct relationship. If a dispute is resolved in the

customer’s favor, the Discover Network will credit or refund the disputed amount to the Discover Network card issuer, who in turn credits its customer’s account. The Discover Network will then charge back the disputed amount of the payment card transaction to the merchant or merchant acquirer, where permitted by the applicable agreement, to seek recovery of amounts already paid to the merchant for payment card transactions. If the Discover Network is unable to collect the amount subject to dispute from the merchant or merchant acquirer (e.g., in the event of merchant default or dissolution or after expiration of the time period for chargebacks in the applicable agreement), the Discover Network will bear the loss for the amount credited or refunded to the customer. In most instances, a loss by the Discover Network is unlikely to arise in connection with payments on card transactions because most products or services are delivered when purchased and credits are issued by merchants on returned items in a timely fashion, thus minimizing the likelihood of cardholder disputes with respect to amounts paid by the Discover Network. However, where the product or service is not scheduled to be provided to the customer until a later date following the purchase, the likelihood of a contingent payment obligation by the Discover Network increases. Losses related to merchant chargebacks were not material for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and 2016.2017.
The maximum potential amount of obligations of the Discover Network arising as a result of such contingent obligations is estimated to be the portion of the total Discover Network transaction volume processed to date for which timely and valid disputes may be raised under applicable law and relevant issuer and customer agreements. There is no limitation on the maximum amount the Company may be liable to pay to issuers. However, the Company believes that such amount is not representative of the Company’s actual potential loss exposure based on the Company’s historical experience. The actual amount of the potential exposure cannot be quantified as the Company cannot determine whether the current or cumulative transaction volumes may include or result in disputed transactions.
The table below summarizes certain information regarding merchant chargeback guarantees (in millions):
The following table summarizes certain information regarding merchant chargeback guarantees (in millions):The following table summarizes certain information regarding merchant chargeback guarantees (in millions):
For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30,For the Three Months Ended June 30, For the Six Months Ended June 30,
2017 2016 2017 20162018 2017 2018 2017
Aggregate sales transaction volume(1)
$36,480
 $34,210
 $105,019
 $100,125
$39,977
 $35,885
 $75,994
 $68,539
              
(1)Represents period transactions processed on the Discover Network for which a potential liability exists that, in aggregate, can differ from credit card sales volume.
The Company did not record any contingent liability in the condensed consolidated financial statements for merchant chargeback guarantees as of SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 or December 31, 2016.2017. The Company mitigates the risk of potential loss exposure by withholding settlement from merchants, obtaining third-party guarantees, or obtaining escrow deposits or letters of credit from certain merchant acquirers or merchants that are considered higher risk due to various factors such as time delays in the delivery of products or services. As of SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016,2017, the Company had escrow deposits and settlement withholdings of $8$13 million and $9$10 million, respectively, which are recorded in interest-bearing deposit accounts and accrued expenses and other liabilities on the Company's condensed consolidated statements of financial condition.
12.Litigation and Regulatory Matters
In the normal course of business, from time to time, the Company has been named as a defendant in various legal actions, including arbitrations, class actions and other litigation, arising in connection with its activities. Certain of the actual or threatened legal actions include claims for substantial compensatory and/or punitive damages or claims for indeterminate amounts of damages. The litigation process is not predictable and can lead to unexpected results. The Company contests liability and/or the amount of damages as appropriate in each pending matter.
The Company has historically relied on theoffered its customers an arbitration clause in its customer agreements, whichagreements. The arbitration clause allows the Company and its customers to quickly and economically resolve disputes. Additionally, the arbitration clause has in some instances limited the costs of, and the Company’s exposure to, litigation, but there can be no assurance that the Company will continue to be successful in enforcing its arbitration clause in the future. Legallitigation. Future legal and regulatory challenges and prohibitions may also cause the Company to discontinue its offering and use of such clauses. From time to time, the Company is involved in legal actions challenging its arbitration clause. Bills aremay be periodically introduced in Congress to directly or indirectly prohibit the use of pre-dispute arbitration clauses. On July 10, 2017, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the "CFPB""Bureau") issued a final arbitration rule (the "Arbitration Rule") that would (i)have effectively banbanned consumer financial companies from including class action waivers in arbitration clauses, and (ii) require records of arbitrations to be provided to the CFPB for publication on its website.clauses. On July 25,November 1, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution which provides for Congressionalof disapproval of the Arbitration Rule under the Congressional Review Act. On October 24, 2017, the U.S. Senate followed the House of Representativeswas signed into law and passed a resolution of disapproval. On November 1, 2017, the President signed the resolution

into law. Consequently, the Arbitration Rule iswas blocked from taking effect and cannot be reissued in substantially the same form, nor can a new rule that is substantially similar be issued unless specifically authorized by a law enacted after the date of the resolution of disapproval.

The Company is also involved, from time to time, in other reviews, investigations and proceedings (both formal and informal) by governmental agencies regarding the Company’s business including, among other matters, consumer regulatory, accounting, tax and other operational matters, some of which may result in significant adverse judgments, settlements, fines, penalties, injunctions, decreases in regulatory ratings, customer restitution or other relief, which could materially impact the Company's condensed consolidated financial statements, increase its cost of operations, or limit its ability to execute its business strategies and engage in certain business activities. For example, Discover Bank and Discover Financial Services have beenthe Company is currently the subject of actionsan action by the FDIC and the Federal Reserve respectively, with respect to anti-money laundering and related compliance programs as referred to below. This agreement followed the consent order that Discover Bank entered into with the FDIC on June 13, 2014 related to Discover Bank's anti-money laundering and related compliance programs. This consent order was terminated in August 2017. In addition, certain subsidiaries of the Company are subject to a consent order with the CFPBBureau regarding certain student loan servicing practices, as described below. Regulatory actions generally can include demands forPursuant to powers granted under federal banking laws, regulatory agencies have broad and sweeping discretion, and may assess civil money penalties, require changes to certain business practices andor require customer restitution. Supervisory actionsrestitution at any time. The existing supervisory action related to anti-money laundering and related laws and regulations will limit for a period of time the Company's ability to enter into certain types of acquisitions and make certain types of investments.
In accordance with applicable accounting guidance, the Company establishes an accrued liability for legal and regulatory matters when those matters present loss contingencies which are both probable and estimable. Litigation and regulatory settlement related expense was not material for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and 2016.2017.
There may be an exposure to loss in excess of any amounts accrued. The Company believes the estimate of the aggregate range of reasonably possible losses (meaning those losses the likelihood of which is more than remote but less than likely) in excess of the amounts that the Company has accrued for legal and regulatory proceedings is up to $145$140 million. This estimated range of reasonably possible losses is based upon currently available information for those proceedings in which the Company is involved, takes into account the Company’s best estimate of such losses for those matters for which an estimate can be made, and does not represent the Company’s maximum potential loss exposure. Various aspects of the legal proceedings underlying the estimated range will change from time to time and actual results may vary significantly from the estimate.
The Company’s estimated range above involves significant judgment, given the varying stages of the proceedings, the existence of numerous yet to be resolved issues, the breadth of the claims (often spanning multiple years and, in some cases, a wide range of business activities), unspecified damages and/or the novelty of the legal issues presented. The outcome of pending matters could be material to the Company’s condensed consolidated financial condition, operating results and cash flows for a particular future period, depending on, among other things, the level of the Company’s income for such period, and could adversely affect the Company’s reputation.
On July 5, 2012, the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice (the “Division”) issued a Civil Investigative Demand ("CID") to the Company seeking information regarding an investigation related to potential violations of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §§1-2, by an unidentified party other than Discover. The CID seeks documents, data and narrative responses to several interrogatories and document requests, related to the debit card market. A CID is a request for information in the course of a civil investigation and does not constitute the commencement of legal proceedings. The Division is permitted by statute to issue a CID to anyone whom it believes may have information relevant to an investigation. The receipt of a CID does not presuppose that there is probable cause to believe that a violation of the antitrust laws has occurred or that a formal complaint ultimately will be filed. The Company is cooperating with the Division in connection with the CID.
On May 26, 2015, the Company entered into a written agreement with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago where the Company agreed to enhance the Company’s enterprise-wide anti-money laundering and related compliance programs. The agreement does not include civil money penalties.
On August 30, 2017, Discover Bank received notice from the FDIC that the June 13, 2014 consent order related to Discover Bank’s anti-money laundering and related compliance programs has been terminated. The termination was issued with no conditions.
On July 9, 2015, a class action lawsuit was filed against the Company in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Polly Hansen v. Discover Financial Services and Discover Home Loans, Inc.). The plaintiff alleges that the Company contacted her, and members of the class she seeks to represent, on their cellular and residential telephones

without their express consent or after consent was revoked in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"). Plaintiff seeks statutory damages for alleged negligent and willful violations of the TCPA, attorneys' fees, costs and injunctive relief. The TCPA provides for statutory damages of $500 for each violation ($1,500 for willful violations). On March 9, 2016, Sumner Davenport was substituted as lead plaintiff for Polly Hansen. On January 13, 2017, plaintiff filed an unopposed motion for preliminary approval of a class action settlement to resolve the case. On January 20, 2017, the Court granted preliminary approval of the settlement. The final approval hearing occurred on September 18, 2017 and the court took the matter under advisement. If approved, the case will be dismissed with prejudice as to all certified class members who did not opt out of the settlement.
On July 22, 2015, the Company announced that its subsidiaries, Discover Bank, The Student Loan CorporationSLC and Discover Products Inc. (the “Discover Subsidiaries”), agreed to a consent order with the CFPBBureau resolving the agency’s investigation with respect to certain student loan servicing practices. The CFPB’sBureau’s investigation into these practices has been previously disclosed by the Company, initially in February 2014. The order required the Discover Subsidiaries to provide redress of approximately $16 million to consumers who may have been affected by the activities described in the order related to certain collection calls, overstatements of minimum payment due amounts in billing statements, and provision of interest paid information to consumers, and provide regulatory disclosures with respect to loans acquired in default. In addition, the Discover Subsidiaries were required to pay a $2.5 million civil money penalty to the CFPB.Bureau. As required by the consent order, on

October 19, 2015, the Discover Subsidiaries submitted to the CFPBBureau a redress plan and a compliance plan designed to ensure that the Discover Subsidiaries provide redress and otherwise comply with the terms of the order.
On September 4, 2015, the District Attorney of Trinity County, California filed a protection products lawsuit against the Company in California state court (The People of the State of California Ex Rel, Eric L. Heryford, District Attorney, Trinity County v. Discover Financial Services, et al.). The District Attorney subsequently dismissed this lawsuit on February 19, 2016 and filed a new complaint in federal court in the Eastern District of California on March 4, 2016 alleging the same cause of action. An amended complaint was filed on March 25, 2016. The lawsuit asserts various claims under California's Unfair Competition Law with respect to the Company's marketing and administration of various protection products. Plaintiff seeks declaratory relief, statutory civil penalties, and attorneys’ fees. The Company filed a motion to dismiss the first amended complaint on April 26, 2016. The motion was granted on June 26, 2018, but the court has granted the plaintiff until September 24, 2018 to file an amended complaint. The Company is not in a position at this time to assess the likely outcome or its exposure, if any, with respect to this matter, but will seek to vigorously defend against all claims asserted by the plaintiff.
On March 8, 2016, a class action lawsuit was filed against the Company, other credit card networks, other issuing banks, and EMVCo in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (B&R Supermarket, Inc., d/b/a Milam’s Market, et al. v. Visa, Inc. et al.) alleging violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act, California's Cartwright Act, and unjust enrichment. Plaintiffs allege a conspiracy by defendants to shift fraud liability to merchants with the migration to the EMV security standard and chip technology. Plaintiffs assert joint and several liability among the defendants and seek unspecified damages, including treble damages, attorneys' fees, costs and injunctive relief. On July 15, 2016, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint that includes additional named plaintiffs, reasserts the original claims, and includes additional state law causes of action. The defendants filed motions to dismiss on August 5, 2016. On September 30, 2016, the court granted the motions to dismiss for certain issuing banks and EMVCo but denied the motions to dismiss filed by the networks, including the Company. Discovery isIn May 2017, while discovery was proceeding and after class certification iswas fully briefed but not yet ruled upon, the court did not rule on certification before itCourt entered an order in May 2017 transferring the entire action to a federal court in New York that is presiding over certain related claims that are pending in the actions consolidated as MDL 1720. In June 2017, the federal court in New York declined to consolidate the B&R case with MDL 1720, but ordered the parties to coordinate discovery across the actions to the extent they involved related issues. On July 6, 2017, the Company requested permission to file a motion to dismiss the claims against it in the federal court in New York. On August 24, 2017, the courtCourt held a status conference at which it set a briefing schedule on Discover’s motion to dismiss, and asked the parties to submit a proposed schedule for the remainder of the case.dismiss. In September 2017, the parties submitted the proposed schedule and Discover filed its motion to dismiss. The court has yetOn November 29, 2017, the Court heard argument on class certification and took the motion under advisement. On January 23, 2018, the Court heard argument on Discover's motion to ruledismiss. On March 11, 2018, the Court entered an order denying the plaintiffs' motion of class certification without prejudice to filing a renewed motion with additional detail on the case schedule, including the proposed dateclass period and alleged antitrust injuries. Fact discovery closed on June 14, 2018, and plaintiffs filed a renewed motion for a class certification hearing. Discovery is ongoing.on July 16, 2018. Opening expert reports are due on August 31, 2018, and class briefing will be complete by November 2018. The Court has not yet set a hearing date on the class motion, and merits expert discovery will close in 2019. The Company is not in a position at this time to assess the likely outcome or its exposure, if any, with respect to this matter, but will seek to vigorously defend against all claims asserted by the plaintiffs.

13.Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures
Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurement, provides a three-level hierarchy for classifying financial instruments, which is based on whether the inputs to the valuation techniques used to measure the fair value of each financial instrument are observable or unobservable. It also requires certain disclosures about those measurements. The three-level valuation hierarchy is as follows:
Level 1: Fair values determined by Level 1 inputs are defined as those that utilize quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Company has the ability to access.
Level 2: Fair values determined by Level 2 inputs are those that utilize inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly. Level 2 inputs include quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active or inactive markets, quoted prices for the identical assets in an inactive market, and inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability, such as interest rates and yield curves that are observable at commonly quoted intervals. The Company evaluates factors such as the frequency of transactions, the size of the bid-ask spread and the significance of adjustments made when considering transactions involving similar assets or liabilities to assess the relevance of those observed prices. If relevant and observable prices are available, the fair values of the related assets or liabilities would be classified as Level 2.
Level 3: Fair values determined by Level 3 inputs are those based on unobservable inputs and include situations where there is little, if any, market activity for the asset or liability being valued. In instances in which the inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy, the level in the fair value hierarchy within which the fair value measurement in its entirety is classified is based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. The Company may utilize both observable and unobservable inputs in determining the fair values of financial instruments classified within the Level 3 category.
The determination of classification of its financial instruments within the fair value hierarchy is performed at least quarterly by the Company. For transfers in and out of the levels of the fair value hierarchy, the Company discloses the fair value measurement based on the value immediately preceding the transfer.
The Company's assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment and involves consideration of factors specific to the asset or liability. Furthermore, certain techniques used to measure fair value involve some degree of judgment and, as a result, are not necessarily indicative of the amounts the Company would realize in a current market exchange.
During the nine months ended September 30, 2017, there were no changes to the Company's valuation techniques that had, or are expected to have, a material impact on the Company's condensed consolidated financial position or results of operations.

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value on a Recurring Basis
Assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis are as follows (dollars in millions):
Quoted Price in Active Markets
for Identical
Assets 
(Level 1)
 
Significant
Other
Observable
Inputs 
(Level 2)
 
Significant
Unobservable
Inputs 
(Level 3)
 Total
Quoted Price in Active Markets
for Identical
Assets 
(Level 1)
 
Significant
Other
Observable
Inputs 
(Level 2)
 
Significant
Unobservable
Inputs 
(Level 3)
 Total
Balance at September 30, 2017       
Balance at June 30, 2018       
Assets              
Fair value - OCI       
U.S. Treasury securities$673
 $
 $
 $673
$674
 $
 $
 $674
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency
 776
 
 776

 622
 
 622
Available-for-sale investment securities$673
 $776
 $
 $1,449
$674
 $622
 $
 $1,296
              
Derivative financial instruments(1)
$
 $3
 $
 $3
Derivative financial instruments - cash flow hedges(1)
$
 $11
 $
 $11
       
Fair value - Net income       
Derivative financial instruments - fair value hedges(1)
$
 $
 $
 $
              
Liabilities              
Derivative financial instruments(1)
$
 $10
 $
 $10
Fair value - OCI       
Derivative financial instruments - cash flow hedges(1)
$
 $
 $
 $
              
Balance at December 31, 2016       
Balance at December 31, 2017       
Assets              
Fair value - OCI       
U.S. Treasury securities$674
 $
 $
 $674
$672
 $
 $
 $672
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency
 931
 
 931

 723
 
 723
Available-for-sale investment securities$674
 $931
 $
 $1,605
$672
 $723
 $
 $1,395
              
Derivative financial instruments$
 $7
 $
 $7
Derivative financial instruments - cash flow hedges(1)
$
 $2
 $
 $2
       
Fair value - Net income       
Derivative financial instruments - fair value hedges(1)
$
 $4
 $
 $4
              
Liabilities              
Derivative financial instruments$
 $94
 $
 $94
Fair value - OCI       
Derivative financial instruments - cash flow hedges(1)
$
 $3
 $
 $3
              
(1)EffectiveDerivative instrument carrying values in an asset or liability position are presented as part of other assets or accrued expenses and other liabilities, respectively, in the first quarterCompany's condensed consolidated statements of 2017, certain cash collateral amounts (variation margin) associated with derivative positions that are cleared through an exchange are reflected as offsets to the associated derivative asset and derivative liability balances, generally reducing the fair values to approximately zero. See Note 14: Derivatives and Hedging Activities for additional information.financial condition.
Fair value hedge derivative financial instruments in a liability position were immaterial at June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017. There were no transfers between Levels 1 and 2 within the fair value hierarchy for the three or ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and 2016.2017.
Available-for-Sale Investment Securities
Investment securities classified as available-for-sale consist of U.S. Treasury securities and residential mortgage-backed securities. The fair value estimates of investment securities classified as Level 1, consisting of U.S. Treasury securities, are determined based on quoted market prices for the same securities. The Company classifies residential mortgage-backed securities as Level 2, the fair value estimates of which are based on the best information available. This data may consist of observed market prices, broker quotes or discounted cash flow models that incorporate assumptions such

as benchmark yields, issuer spreads, prepayment speeds, credit ratings and losses, the priority of which may vary based on availability of information.
The Company validates the fair value estimates provided by the pricing services primarily by comparison to valuations obtained through other pricing sources. The Company evaluates pricing variances amongst different pricing sources to ensure that the valuations utilized are reasonable. The Company also corroborates the reasonableness of the fair value estimates with analysis of trends of significant inputs, such as market interest rate curves. The Company further performs due diligence in understanding the procedures and techniques performed by the pricing services to derive fair value estimates.
At SeptemberJune 30, 20172018, amounts reported in residential mortgage-backed securities reflect government-rated obligations issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae with a par value of $758626 million, a weighted-average coupon of 2.81% and a weighted-average remaining maturity of three years.

Derivative Financial Instruments
The Company's derivative financial instruments consist of interest rate swaps and foreign exchange forward contracts. These instruments are classified as Level 2 as their fair values are estimated using proprietary pricing models, containing certain assumptions based on readily observable market-based inputs, including interest rate curves, option volatility and foreign currency forward and spot rates. In determining fair values, the pricing models use widely accepted valuation techniques including discounted cash flow analysis on the expected cash flows of each derivative. This analysis reflects the contractual terms of the derivatives, including the period to maturity and the observable market-based inputs. The fair values of the interest rate swaps are determined using the market standard methodology of netting the discounted future fixed cash receipts (or payments) and the discounted expected variable cash payments (or receipts). The variable cash payments are based on an expectation of future interest rates derived from the observable market interest rate curves. The Company considers collateral and master netting agreements that mitigate credit exposure to counterparties in determining the counterparty credit risk valuation adjustment. The fair values of the currency instruments are valued comparing the contracted forward exchange rate pertaining to the specific contract maturities to the current market exchange rate.
The Company validates the fair value estimates of interest rate swaps primarily through comparison to the fair value estimates computed by the counterparties to each of the derivative transactions. The Company evaluates pricing variances amongst different pricing sources to ensure that the valuations utilized are reasonable. The Company also corroborates the reasonableness of the fair value estimates with analysis of trends of significant inputs, such as market interest rate curves. The Company performs due diligence in understanding the impact to any changes to the valuation techniques performed by proprietary pricing models prior to implementation, working closely with the third-party valuation service, and reviews the control objectives of the service at least annually. The Company corroborates the fair value of foreign exchange forward contracts through independent calculation of the fair value estimates.
Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value on a Non-Recurring Basis
The Company also has assets that under certain conditions are subject to measurement at fair value on a non-recurring basis. These assets include those associated with acquired businesses, including goodwill and other intangible assets. For these assets, measurement at fair value in periods subsequent to the initial recognition of the assets is applicable if one or more of the assets is determined to be impaired. During the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and 2016,2017, the Company had no material impairments related to these assets.

Financial Instruments Measured at Other Than Fair Value
The following tables disclose the estimated fair value of the Company's financial assets and financial liabilities that are not required to be carried at fair value (dollars in millions):
 
Quoted Prices in Active Markets
for Identical
Assets
(Level 1)
 
Significant
Other
Observable
Inputs (Level 2)
 
Significant
Unobservable
Inputs (Level 3)
 Total 
Carrying
Value
Balance at September 30, 2017         
Assets         
States and political subdivisions of states$
 $1
 $
 $1
 $1
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency
 179
 
 179
 177
Held-to-maturity investment securities$
 $180
 $
 $180
 $178
          
Cash and cash equivalents$13,249
 $
 $
 $13,249
 $13,249
Restricted cash$1,279
 $
 $
 $1,279
 $1,279
Net loan receivables$
 $
 $81,706
 $81,706
 $77,912
Accrued interest receivables$
 $797
 $
 $797
 $797
          
Liabilities         
Deposits$
 $56,307
 $
 $56,307
 $56,135
Long-term borrowings - owed to securitization investors$
 $16,399
 $683
 $17,082
 $16,979
Other long-term borrowings$
 $10,336
 $
 $10,336
 $9,758
Accrued interest payables$
 $188
 $
 $188
 $188
          
Balance at December 31, 2016         
Assets         
States and political subdivisions of states$
 $2
 $
 $2
 $2
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency
 150
 
 150
 150
Held-to-maturity investment securities$
 $152
 $
 $152
 $152
          
Cash and cash equivalents$11,914
 $
 $
 $11,914
 $11,914
Restricted cash$95
 $
 $
 $95
 $95
Net loan receivables$
 $
 $78,252
 $78,252
 $75,087
Accrued interest receivables$
 $724
 $
 $724
 $724
          
Liabilities         
Deposits$
 $52,183
 $
 $52,183
 $51,992
Long-term borrowings - owed to securitization investors$
 $15,617
 $900
 $16,517
 $16,411
Other long-term borrowings$
 $9,470
 $
 $9,470
 $9,032
Accrued interest payables$
 $168
 $
 $168
 $168
          
The fair valuesIn accordance with ASU No. 2016-01, Financial Instruments—Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of these financial assetsFinancial Assets and liabilities, which are not carried at fair value on the condensed consolidated statements of financial condition, were determined by applying the fair value provisions discussed herein. The use of different assumptions or estimation techniques may have a material effect on these estimated fair value amounts. The following describes the valuation techniques of these financial instruments measured at other than fair value.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The carrying value of cash and cash equivalents approximates fair value due to the low level of risk these assets present toFinancial Liabilities, the Company as well asuses the relatively liquid nature of these assets, particularly given their short maturities.

Restricted Cash
The carrying value of restricted cash approximates fair value due to the low level of risk these assets present to the Company as well as the relatively liquid nature of these assets, particularly given their short maturities.
Held-to-Maturity Investment Securities
Held-to-maturity investment securities consist of residential mortgage-backed securities issued by agencies and municipal bonds. The fair value of residential mortgage-backed securities included in the held-to-maturity portfolio is estimated similarly to residential mortgage-backed securities carried at fair value on a recurring basis discussed herein. Municipal bonds are valued based on quoted market prices for the same or similar securities.
Net Loan Receivables
The Company's loan receivables are comprised of credit card and installment loans, including the PCI student loans. Fair value estimates are derived utilizing discounted cash flow analyses, the calculations of which are performed on groupings of loan receivables that are similar in terms of loan type and characteristics. Inputs to the cash flow analysis of each grouping consider recent prepayment trends and seasonality factors, if appropriate, as well as interest accrual estimates based on recent yields. The expected future cash flows, derived through the cash flow analysis, of each grouping are discounted at rates at which similar loans within each grouping could be originated under current market conditions. Significant inputs to the fair value measurement of the loan portfolio are unobservable and, as such, are classified as Level 3.
Accrued Interest Receivables
The carrying value of accrued interest receivables, which is included in other assets on the condensed consolidated statements of financial condition, approximates fair value as it is due in less than one year.
Deposits
The carrying values of money market deposits, savings deposits and demand deposits approximate fair value due to the potentially liquid nature of these deposits. For time deposits for which readily available market rates do not exist, fair values are estimated by discounting expected future cash flows using market rates currently offered for deposits with similar remaining maturities.
Long-Term Borrowings - Owed to Securitization Investors
Fair values of long-term borrowings owed to credit card securitization investors are determined utilizing quoted market prices of the same transactions and, as such, are classified as Level 2. Fair values of long-term borrowings owed to student loan securitization investors are calculated by discounting cash flows using estimated assumptions including, among other things, maturity and market discount rates. A portion of the difference between the carrying value andexit price notion when measuring the fair value of the long-term borrowings owed to student loan securitization investors relates to purchase accounting adjustments recorded in connection with the December 2010 purchasefinancial instruments. See Note 1: Background and Basis of SLC. Significant inputs to these fair value measurements are unobservable and, as such, are classified as Level 3.Presentation for additional information.
Other Long-Term Borrowings
Fair values of other long-term borrowings, consisting of subordinated and senior debt, are determined utilizing current observable market prices for those transactions and, as such, are classified as Level 2. A portion of the difference between the carrying value and the fair value of other long-term borrowings relates to the cash premiums paid in connection with the 2012 fiscal year debt exchanges.
Accrued Interest Payables
The carrying value of accrued interest payables, which is included in accrued expenses and other liabilities on the condensed consolidated statements of financial condition, approximates fair value as it is payable in less than one year.
The following tables disclose the estimated fair value of the Company's financial assets and financial liabilities that are not required to be carried at fair value (dollars in millions):
 
Quoted Prices in Active Markets
for Identical
Assets
(Level 1)
 
Significant
Other
Observable
Inputs (Level 2)
 
Significant
Unobservable
Inputs (Level 3)
 Total 
Carrying
Value
Balance at June 30, 2018         
Assets         
Amortized cost         
States and political subdivisions of states$
 $
 $
 $
 $
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency
 222
 
 222
 226
Held-to-maturity investment securities$
 $222
 $
 $222
 $226
          
Net loan receivables$
 $
 $85,487
 $85,487
 $81,961
          
Carrying value approximates fair value(1)
         
Cash and cash equivalents$15,289
 $
 $
 $15,289
 $15,289
Restricted cash$630
 $
 $
 $630
 $630
Accrued interest receivables(2)
$
 $845
 $
 $845
 $845
          
Liabilities         
Amortized cost         
Time deposits(3)
$
 $29,810
 $
 $29,810
 $29,998
          
Long-term borrowings - owed to securitization investors$
 $15,839
 $555
 $16,394
 $16,365
Other long-term borrowings
 10,025
 
 10,025
 9,887
Long-term borrowings$
 $25,864
 $555
 $26,419
 $26,252
          
Carrying value approximates fair value(1)
         
Accrued interest payables(2)
$
 $239
 $
 $239
 $239
          
(1) The carrying values of these assets and liabilities approximate fair value due to the nature of their liquidity (i.e., due or payable in less than one year).
(2) Accrued interest receivable and payable carrying values are presented as part of other assets or accrued expenses and other liabilities, respectively, in the Company's
         condensed consolidated statements of financial condition.
(3) Excludes deposits without contractually defined maturities for all periods presented.
          

The following tables disclose the estimated fair value of the Company's financial assets and financial liabilities that are not required to be carried at fair value (dollars in millions):
 
Quoted Prices in Active Markets
for Identical
Assets
(Level 1)
 
Significant
Other
Observable
Inputs (Level 2)
 
Significant
Unobservable
Inputs (Level 3)
 Total 
Carrying
Value
Balance at December 31, 2017         
Assets         
Amortized cost         
States and political subdivisions of states$
 $1
 $
 $1
 $1
Residential mortgage-backed securities - Agency
 172
 
 172
 172
Held-to-maturity investment securities$
 $173
 $
 $173
 $173
          
Net loan receivables$
 $
 $85,108
 $85,108
 $81,627
          
Carrying value approximates fair value(1)
         
Cash and cash equivalents$13,306
 $
 $
 $13,306
 $13,306
Restricted cash$81
 $
 $
 $81
 $81
Accrued interest receivables(2)
$
 $818
 $
 $818
 $818
          
Liabilities         
Amortized cost         
Time deposits(3)
$
 $29,848
 $
 $29,848
 $29,752
          
Long-term borrowings - owed to securitization investors$
 $15,851
 $640
 $16,491
 $16,536
Other long-term borrowings
 10,293
 
 10,293
 9,790
Long-term borrowings$
 $26,144
 $640
 $26,784
 $26,326
          
Carrying value approximates fair value(1)
         
Accrued interest payables(2)
$
 $214
 $
 $214
 $214
          
(1)The carrying values of these assets and liabilities approximate fair value due to the nature of their liquidity (i.e., due or payable in less than one year).
(2)Accrued interest receivable and payable carrying values are presented as part of other assets or accrued expenses and other liabilities, respectively, in the Company's condensed consolidated statements of financial condition.
(3)Excludes deposits without contractually defined maturities for all periods presented.
14.Derivatives and Hedging Activities
The Company uses derivatives to manage its exposure to various financial risks. The Company does not enter into derivatives for trading or speculative purposes. Certain derivatives used to manage the Company’s exposure to interest rate movements and other identified risksforeign currency are not designated as hedges and do not qualify for hedge accounting.
Derivatives may give rise to counterparty credit risk, which generally is addressed through collateral arrangements as described under the sub-heading "— Collateral Requirements and Credit-Risk Related Contingency Features." The Company enters into derivative transactions with established dealers that meet minimum credit criteria established by the Company. All counterparties must be pre-approved prior to engaging in any transaction with the Company. Counterparties are monitored on a regular basis by the Company to ensure compliance with the Company’s risk policies and limits. In determining the counterparty credit risk valuation adjustment for the fair values of derivatives, the Company considers collateral and legally enforceable master netting agreements that mitigate credit exposure to related counterparties.
All derivatives are recorded in other assets at their gross positive fair values and in accrued expenses and other liabilities at their gross negative fair values. See Note 13: Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures for a description of the valuation methodologies of derivatives. Cash collateral posted and held balances are recorded in other assets and deposits, respectively, in the condensed consolidated statements of financial condition. Collateral amounts recorded in the condensed consolidated statements of financial condition are based on the net collateral posted or held position for each applicable legal entity's

master netting arrangement with each counterparty. Certain cash collateral amounts associated with derivative positions that are cleared through an exchange are legally characterized as settlement of the derivative positions. Such collateral amounts are reflected as offsets to the associated derivatives balances recorded in other assets or in accrued expenses and other liabilities, instead of as collateral in other assets or deposits.
Derivatives Designated as Hedges
Derivatives designated and qualifying as a hedge of the exposure to variability in expected future cash flows arising from changes in interest rates, or other types of forecasted transactions, are considered cash flow hedges. Derivatives designated and qualifying as a hedge of the exposure to changes in the fair value of an asset, liability, or firm commitment attributable to a particular risk, such as interest rate risk, are considered fair value hedges.
Cash Flow Hedges
The Company uses interest rate swaps to manage its exposure to changes in interest rates related to future cash flows resulting from interest payments on credit card securitized debt and deposits. The Company's outstanding cash flow hedges are for an initial maximum period of seven years for securitized debt and deposits. The derivatives are designated as hedges of the risk of changes in cash flows on the Company's LIBOR or Federal Funds rate-based interest payments, and qualify for hedge accounting in accordance with ASC Topic 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”).
The effective portion of the change in the fair value of derivatives designated as cash flow hedges is recorded in OCI and is subsequently reclassified into earnings in the period that the hedged forecasted cash flows affect earnings. The ineffective portion of the change in fair value of the derivative, if any, is recognized directly in earnings. Amounts reported in AOCI related to derivatives at SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 will be reclassified to interest expense as interest payments are madeaccrued on certain of the Company's floating-rate securitized debt orand deposits. During the next 12 months, the Company estimates it will reclassify $7$10 million of pretax lossesbenefit to interest expense related to its derivatives designated as cash flow hedges.
Fair Value Hedges
The Company is exposed to changes in fair value of certain of its fixed-rate debt obligations due to changes in interest rates. The Company uses interest rate swaps to manage its exposure to changes in fair value of certain fixed-rate long-term borrowings, including securitized debt and bank or other senior notes, securitized debt, bank notes and interest-bearing brokered deposits attributable to changes in LIBOR, a benchmark interest rate as defined by ASC 815. These interest rate swaps qualify as fair value hedges in accordance with ASC 815. Changes in both (i) the fair values of the derivatives and (ii) the hedged fixed-rate senior notes, securitized debt, bank noteslong-term borrowings and interest-bearing brokered deposits relating to the risk being hedged are recorded in interest expense. The changes generally provide substantial offset to one another, with any difference or ineffectiveness recorded in interest expense. Any basis differences between the fair value and the carrying amount of the hedged item at the inception of the hedging relationship are amortized to interest expense.

Derivatives Not Designated as Hedges
Foreign Exchange Forward Contracts
The Company has foreign exchange forward contracts that are economic hedges and are not designated as accounting hedges. The Company enters into foreign exchange forward contracts to manage foreign currency risk. Changes in the fair value of these contracts are recorded in other income.
Derivatives Cleared Through an Exchange
The legal characterization of cash variation margin payments on derivatives cleared through a certainan exchange are legally considered settlement payments and are accounted for with corresponding derivative positions as one unit of account and not separately as collateral. With settlement payments on derivative positions cleared through this exchange reflected as offsets to the associated derivative asset and liability balances, the fair values of derivative instruments and collateral balances shown are generally reduced beginning in 2017. If the change had been effective in the prior year, both derivative assets/liabilities and collateral posted on the condensed consolidated statements of financial condition as of December 31, 2016, would have been $79 million lower.reduced.


Derivatives Activity
The following table summarizes the fair value (including accrued interest) and outstanding notional amounts of derivative instruments and related collateral balances (dollars in millions):
September 30, 2017 December 31, 2016June 30, 2018 December 31, 2017
Notional
Amount
 Number of Outstanding Derivative Contracts Derivative Assets Derivative Liabilities 
Notional
Amount
 Derivative Assets Derivative Liabilities
Notional
Amount
 Number of Outstanding Derivative Contracts Derivative Assets Derivative Liabilities 
Notional
Amount
 Derivative Assets Derivative Liabilities
Derivatives designated as hedges                          
Interest rate swaps—cash flow hedge(1)
$3,800
 7
 $2
 $7
 $3,700
 $
 $22
$3,000
 6
 $11
 $
 $3,800
 $2
 $3
Interest rate swaps—fair value hedge(1)
$5,332
 19
 1
 3
 $6,208
 7
 72
$7,230
 9
 
 
 $7,333
 4
 
Derivatives not designated as hedges                          
Foreign exchange forward contracts(2)(1)
$13
 6
 
 
 $13
 
 
$32
 7
 
 
 $23
 
 
Interest rate swap$
 
 
 
 $149
 
 
Total gross derivative assets/liabilities(3)
    3
 10
   7
 94
Less: Collateral held/posted(4)
    (1) (10)   (2) (94)
Total gross derivative assets/liabilities(2)
    11
 
   6
 3
Less: Collateral held/posted(3)
    (11) 
   (1) (3)
Total net derivative assets/liabilities    $2
 $
   $5
 $
    $
 $
   $5
 $
                          
(1)Effective in the first quarter of 2017, certain cash collateral amounts (variation margin) associated with derivative positions that are cleared through an exchange are reflected as offsets to the associated derivative asset and derivative liability balances, generally reducing the fair values to approximately zero. The affected contracts remain term instruments and are reflected in notional amounts and number of outstanding derivative contracts.
(2)
The foreign exchange forward contracts have notional amounts of EUR 78 million, GBP 311 million and, SGD 1 million and INR 464 million as of SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and notional amounts of EUR 67 million, GBP 5 million, and SGD 1 million and INR 464 million as of December 31, 2016.2017.
(3)(2)In addition to the derivatives disclosed in the table, the Company enters into forward contracts to purchase when-issued mortgage-backed securities as part of its community reinvestment initiatives. At SeptemberJune 30, 2018, the Company had one outstanding contract with a notional amount of $20 million and immaterial fair value. At December 31, 2017, the Company had one outstanding contract with a notional amount of $27 million and immaterial fair value. At December 31, 2016, the Company had one outstanding contract with a notional amount of $36$54 million and immaterial fair value.
(4)(3)Collateral amounts, which consist of both cash and investment securities, are limited to the related derivative asset/liability balance and do not include excess collateral received/pledged. Effective in the first quarter of 2017, collateral held/posted excludes amounts that are recorded as offsets to the associated derivative asset or derivative liability balances.

The following tables summarize the impact of the derivative instruments on income and OCI and indicates where within the condensed consolidated financial statements such impact is reported (dollars in millions):
   Amount of Gain (Loss) Recognized in OCI
   For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30,
 Location 2017 2016 2017 2016
Derivatives designated as hedges         
Interest rate swaps - cash flow/net investment hedges         
Total gain (loss) recognized in OCI after amounts reclassified into earnings, pre-taxOCI $2
 $22
 $21
 $(31)
Total gain (loss) recognized in OCI  $2
 $22
 $21
 $(31)
          
          
   Amount of (Loss) Gain Recognized in Income
   For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30,
 Location 2017 2016 2017 2016
Derivatives designated as hedges         
Interest rate swaps - cash flow hedges         
Amount reclassified from OCI into incomeInterest Expense $(3) $(9) $(11) $(27)
Total amount reclassified from OCI into income on cash flow hedges  (3)
(9)
(11)
(27)
          
Interest rate swaps - fair value hedges         
Gain (loss) on interest rate swaps  2
 (19) (1) 25
(Loss) Gain on hedged items  (2) 18
 2
 (26)
Net ineffectiveness gain (loss)Interest Expense 
 (1) 1
 (1)
          
(Increase) decrease to interest expense related to net settlements on interest rate swapsInterest Expense (1) 9
 7
 26
Total (loss) gain on fair value hedges  (1) 8
 8
 25
Total loss on derivatives designated as hedges recognized in income  $(4)
$(1)
$(3)
$(2)
          
Derivatives not designated as hedges         
Total (loss) gain on derivatives not designated as hedges recognized in incomeOther Income $(1) $
 $(2) $
          
The following amounts were recorded on the statements of financial condition related to cumulative basis adjustment for fair value hedges (dollars in millions):
 June 30, 2018
 Carrying Amount of Hedged Assets/Liabilities Cumulative Amount of Fair Value Hedging Adjustment Increasing (Decreasing) the Carrying Amount of Hedged Assets/Liabilities
Long-term borrowings$7,018
 $(168)
    





The following table summarizes the impact of the derivative instruments on income and indicates where within the condensed consolidated financial statements such impact is reported (dollars in millions):
 Location and Amount of (Loss) Gain Recognized in Income
 Interest (Expense)  
 Deposits Long-Term Borrowings Other Income
For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2018     
Total amounts of income and expense line items presented in the statements of income in which the effects of fair value or cash flow hedges are recorded$(287) $(220) $24
      
The effects of cash flow and fair value hedging:     
Gain on cash flow hedging relationship     
Amounts reclassified from OCI into earnings$
 $1
 $
      
Gain (loss) on fair value hedging relationship     
Gain on hedged items$
 $11
 $
Gain (loss) on interest rate swaps
 (22) 
Total gain (loss) on fair value hedges$
 $(11) $
      
The effects of derivatives not designated in hedging relationships:     
Gain on derivatives not designated as hedges$
 $
 $2
      
For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2017     
Total amounts of income and expense line items presented in the statements of income in which the effects of fair value or cash flow hedges are recorded$(199) $(201) $22
      
The effects of cash flow and fair value hedging:     
(Loss) gain on cash flow hedging relationship     
Amounts reclassified from OCI into earnings$(2) $(1) $
      
Gain (loss) on fair value hedging relationship     
Gain (loss) on hedged items$
 $(12) $
Gain on interest rate swaps
 15
 
Total gain on fair value hedges$
 $3
 $
      
The effects of derivatives not designated in hedging relationships:     
Gain (loss) on derivatives not designated as hedges$
 $
 $(1)
      
      

The following table summarizes the impact of the derivative instruments on income and indicates where within the condensed consolidated financial statements such impact is reported (dollars in millions):
 Location and Amount of (Loss) Gain Recognized in Income
 Interest (Expense)  
 Deposits Long-Term Borrowings Other Income
For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2018     
Total amounts of income and expense line items presented in the statements of income in which the effects of fair value or cash flow hedges are recorded$(549) $(427) $53
      
The effects of cash flow and fair value hedging:     
(Loss) gain on cash flow hedging relationship     
Amounts reclassified from OCI into earnings$(1) $1
 $
      
Gain (loss) on fair value hedging relationship     
Gain on hedged items$
 $59
 $
Gain (loss) on interest rate swaps
 (74) 
Total gain (loss) on fair value hedges$
 $(15) $
      
The effects of derivatives not designated in hedging relationships:     
Gain on derivatives not designated as hedges$
 $
 $1
      
For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2017     
Total amounts of income and expense line items presented in the statements of income in which the effects of fair value or cash flow hedges are recorded$(390) $(396) $50
      
The effects of cash flow and fair value hedging:     
(Loss) gain on cash flow hedging relationship     
Amounts reclassified from OCI into earnings$(4) $(4) $
      
Gain (loss) on fair value hedging relationship     
Gain on hedged items$1
 $3
 $
(Loss) gain on interest rate swaps(1) 6
 
Total gain on fair value hedges$
 $9
 $
      
The effects of derivatives not designated in hedging relationships:     
Gain (loss) on derivatives not designated as hedges$
 $
 $(1)
      

For the impact of the derivative instruments on OCI, see Note 7: Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income.
Collateral Requirements and Credit-Risk Related Contingency Features
The Company has master netting arrangements and minimum collateral posting thresholds with its counterparties for its fair value and cash flow hedge interest rate swaps and foreign exchange forward contracts. The Company has not sought a legal opinion in relation to the enforceability of its master netting arrangements and, as such, does not report any of these positions on a net basis. Collateral is required by either the Company or its subsidiaries or the counterparty depending on the net fair value position of these derivatives held with that counterparty. The Company may also be required to post collateral with a counterparty for its fair value and cash flow hedge interest rate swaps depending on the credit rating it or Discover Bank receives from specified major credit rating agencies. Collateral receivable or payable amounts are generally not offset against the fair value of these derivatives, but are recorded separately in other assets or deposits. However, effective in the first quarter of 2017, certain cash collateral amounts related to positions cleared through an exchange are reflected as offsets to the associated derivatives balances recorded in other assets and accrued expenses and other liabilities.

At SeptemberJune 30, 20172018, Discover Bank’s credit rating met specified thresholds set by its counterparties. However, if its credit rating is reduced by one rating notch,below investment grade, Discover Bank would be required to post additional collateral. The amount of

additional collateral as of SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 would have been $3420 million. DFS (Parent Company) had no outstanding derivatives as of SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, and therefore, no collateral was required.
The Company also has agreements with certain of its derivative counterparties that contain a provision where if the Company defaults on any of its indebtedness, including default where repayment of the indebtedness has not been accelerated by the lender, then the Company could also be declared in default on its derivative obligations.
15.Segment Disclosures
The Company’s business activities are managed in two segments: Direct Banking and Payment Services.
Direct Banking: The Direct Banking segment includes Discover-branded credit cards issued to individuals on the Discover Network and other consumer products and services, including private student loans, personal loans, home equity loans, and other consumer lending and deposit products. The majority of Direct Banking revenues relate to interest income earned on the segment's loan products. Additionally, the Company’s credit card products generate substantially all revenues related to discount and interchange, protection products and loan fee income.
Payment Services: The Payment Services segment includes PULSE, an automated teller machine, debit and electronic funds transfer network; Diners Club, a global payments network; and the Company’s Network Partners business, which provides payment transaction processing and settlement services on the Discover Network. The majority of Payment Services revenues relate to transaction processing revenue from PULSE and royalty and licensee revenue from Diners Club.
The business segment reporting provided to and used by the Company’s chief operating decision maker is prepared using the following principles and allocation conventions:
The Company aggregates operating segments when determining reportable segments.
Corporate overhead is not allocated between segments; all corporate overhead is included in the Direct Banking segment.
Through its operation of the Discover Network, the Direct Banking segment incurs fixed marketing, servicing and infrastructure costs that are not specifically allocated among the segments, with the exception of an allocation of direct and incremental costs driven by the Company's Payment Services segment.
The assets of the Company are not allocated among the operating segments in the information reviewed by the Company’s chief operating decision maker.
The revenues of each segment are derived from external sources. The segments do not earn revenue from intercompany sources.
Income taxes are not specifically allocated between the operating segments in the information reviewed by the Company’s chief operating decision maker.

The following table presents segment data (dollars in millions):
Direct
Banking
 
Payment
Services
 Total
Direct
Banking
 
Payment
Services
 Total
For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2017     
For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2018     
Interest income          
Credit card loans$2,026
 $
 $2,026
$2,139
 $
 $2,139
Private student loans132
 
 132
150
 
 150
PCI student loans39
 
 39
35
 
 35
Personal loans224
 
 224
229
 
 229
Other55
 
 55
83
 
 83
Total interest income2,476
 
 2,476
2,636
 
 2,636
Interest expense426
 
 426
507
 
 507
Net interest income2,050
 
 2,050
2,129
 
 2,129
Provision for loan losses675
 (1) 674
742
 
 742
Other income401
 74
 475
398
 76
 474
Other expense909
 39
 948
948
 36
 984
Income before income tax expense$867
 $36
 $903
$837
 $40
 $877
          
For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2016     
For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2017     
Interest income          
Credit card loans$1,812
 $
 $1,812
$1,916
 $
 $1,916
Private student loans112
 
 112
127
 
 127
PCI student loans46
 
 46
41
 
 41
Personal loans185
 
 185
207
 
 207
Other29
 
 29
47
 
 47
Total interest income2,184
 
 2,184
2,338
 
 2,338
Interest expense359
 
 359
400
 
 400
Net interest income1,825
 
 1,825
1,938
 
 1,938
Provision for loan losses445
 
 445
639
 1
 640
Other income408
 68
 476
408
 73
 481
Other expense857
 38
 895
876
 36
 912
Income before income tax expense$931
 $30
 $961
$831
 $36
 $867
          
          

The following table presents segment data (dollars in millions):
Direct
Banking
 
Payment
Services
 Total
Direct
Banking
 
Payment
Services
 Total
For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017     
For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2018     
Interest income          
Credit card loans$5,818
 $
 $5,818
$4,229
 $
 $4,229
Private student loans383
 
 383
297
 
 297
PCI student loans121
 
 121
72
 
 72
Personal loans629
 
 629
455
 
 455
Other141
 
 141
152
 
 152
Total interest income7,092
 
 7,092
5,205
 
 5,205
Interest expense1,212
 
 1,212
976
 
 976
Net interest income5,880
 
 5,880
4,229
 
 4,229
Provision for loan losses1,908
 (8) 1,900
1,493
 
 1,493
Other income1,184
 219
 1,403
792
 157
 949
Other expense2,634
 111
 2,745
1,880
 72
 1,952
Income before income tax expense$2,522
 $116
 $2,638
$1,648
 $85
 $1,733
          
For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016     
For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2017     
Interest income          
Credit card loans$5,279
 $
 $5,279
$3,792
 $
 $3,792
Private student loans329
 
 329
251
 
 251
PCI student loans142
 
 142
82
 
 82
Personal loans523
 
 523
405
 
 405
Other85
 
 85
86
 
 86
Total interest income6,358
 
 6,358
4,616
 
 4,616
Interest expense1,032
 
 1,032
786
 
 786
Net interest income5,326
 
 5,326
3,830
 
 3,830
Provision for loan losses1,279
 2
 1,281
1,233
 (7) 1,226
Other income1,210
 205
 1,415
783
 145
 928
Other expense2,576
 111
 2,687
1,725
 72
 1,797
Income before income tax expense$2,681
 $92
 $2,773
$1,655
 $80
 $1,735
          

16.Revenue from Contracts with Customers
FASB ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, generally applies to the sales of any good or service for which no other specific accounting guidance is provided. ASC 606 defines a principles-based model under which revenue from a contract is allocated to the distinct performance obligations within the contract and recognized in income as each performance obligation is satisfied. The Company’s revenue that is subject to this model includes discount and interchange, protection products fees, transaction processing revenue, and amounts classified as other income.
The following table presents revenue from contracts with customers disaggregated by business segment and reconciles revenue from contracts with customers to total other income (dollars in millions):
 Direct Banking Payment Services Total
For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2018     
Other income subject to ASC 606     
Discount and interchange revenue, net(1)
$250
 $13
 $263
Protection products50
 
 50
Transaction processing revenue
 42
 42
Other income3
 21
 24
Total other income subject to ASC 606(2)
303
 76
 379
Other income not subject to ASC 606     
Loan fee income95
 
 95
Total other income not subject to ASC 60695
 
 95
Total other income by operating segment$398
 $76
 $474
      
For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2017     
Other income subject to ASC 606     
Discount and interchange revenue, net(1)
$268
 $10
 $278
Protection products56
 
 56
Transaction processing revenue
 42
 42
Other income1
 21
 22
Total other income subject to ASC 606(2)
325
 73
 398
Other income not subject to ASC 606    
Loan fee income83
 
 83
Total other income not subject to ASC 60683
 
 83
Total other income by operating segment$408
 $73
 $481
      
      

The following table presents revenue from contracts with customers disaggregated by business segment and reconciles revenue from contracts with customers to total other income (dollars in millions):
 Direct Banking Payment Services Total
For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2018     
Other income subject to ASC 606     
Discount and interchange revenue, net(1)
$492
 $25
 $517
Protection products103
 
 103
Transaction processing revenue
 85
 85
Other income6
 47
 53
Total other income subject to ASC 606(2)
601
 157
 758
Other income not subject to ASC 606     
Loan fee income191
 
 191
Total other income not subject to ASC 606191
 
 191
Total other income by operating segment$792
 $157
 $949
      
For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2017     
Other income subject to ASC 606    
Discount and interchange revenue, net(1)
$491
 $20
 $511
Protection products114
 
 114
Transaction processing revenue
 81
 81
Other income6
 44
 50
Total other income subject to ASC 606(2)
611
 145
 756
Other income not subject to ASC 606    
Loan fee income172
 
 172
Total other income not subject to ASC 606172
 
 172
Total other income by operating segment$783
 $145
 $928
      
(1)Net of rewards, including Cashback Bonus rewards, of $461 million and $388 million for the three months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and $853 million and $751 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively.
(2)Excludes $1 million of deposit product fees that are reported within net interest income for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 and for the six months ended June 30, 2017. Deposit product fees were immaterial for the three months ended June 30, 2017.
Discount and Interchange Revenue
The Company earns discount revenue from fees charged to merchants with whom it has entered into card acceptance agreements for processing credit card purchase transactions. The Company earns acquirer interchange revenue primarily from merchant acquirers on all Discover Network card transactions and certain Diners Club transactions made by credit card customers at merchants with whom merchant acquirers have entered into card acceptance agreements for processing credit card purchase transactions. These card acceptance arrangements generally renew automatically and do not have fixed durations. Under these agreements, the Company stands ready to process payment transactions as and when each is presented to it. The Company earns discount, interchange and similar fees only if and when transactions are processed. Contractually defined per-transaction fee amounts typically apply to each type of transaction processed and are recognized as revenue at the time each transaction is captured for settlement. These fees are typically collected by the Company as part of the process of settling transactions daily with merchants and acquirers and are fully earned at the time settlement is made.

The Company pays issuer interchange to card-issuing entities that have entered into contractual arrangements to issue cards on the Discover Network and on certain transactions on the Diners Club network. This cost is contractually established and is based on the card-issuing organization’s transaction volume. The Company classifies this cost as a reduction of discount and interchange revenue. Costs of cardholder reward arrangements, including the Cashback Bonus reward program, are classified as reductions of discount and interchange revenue pursuant to guidance under ASC 606 governing consideration payable to a customer. For both issuer interchange and cardholder rewards, the Company accrues the cost at the time each underlying card transaction is captured for settlement.

Protection Products
The Company earns revenue related to fees received for marketing ancillary products and services, including payment protection and identity theft protection services, to its credit card customers. A portion of this revenue comprises amounts earned for arranging for the delivery of products offered by third-party service providers. The amount of revenue recorded is generally based on either a percentage of a customer’s outstanding balance or a flat fee, in either case assessed monthly, and is recognized as earned. These contracts are month-to-month arrangements that are cancellable at any time. The Company recognizes each monthly fee in the period to which the service or coverage relates.
Transaction Processing Revenue
Transaction processing revenue represents switch fees charged to financial institutions and merchants under network participation agreements for processing ATM, debit and POS transactions over the PULSE network, as well as various participation and membership fees. Network participation agreements generally renew automatically and do not have fixed durations, although the Company does enter into fixed-term pricing or incentive arrangements with certain network participants. The impact of such incentives is not material to the Company’s consolidated statements of income. Similar to discount and interchange fees, switch fees are contractually defined per-transaction fee amounts and are assessed and recognized as revenue at the time each transaction is captured for settlement. These fees are typically collected by the Company as part of the process of settling transactions daily with network participants. Membership and other participation fees are recognized over the periods to which each fee relates.
Other Income
Other income includes sales-based royalty revenues earned by Diners Club, merchant fees, certain payments from merchants related to reward programs, revenues from network partners and other miscellaneous revenue items. Sales-based royalty revenues are recognized as the related sales are reported by Diners franchisees. All remaining items of other income are recognized as the related performance obligations are satisfied.
Future Revenue Associated with Customer Contracts
For contracts under which the Company processes payment card transactions, the Company has the right to assess fees for services performed and to collect those fees through the settlement process. The Company generates essentially all of its discount and interchange revenue and transaction processing revenue, as well as some revenue reported as other income, through such contracts. There is no specified quantity of service promised in these contracts as the number of payment transactions is dependent upon cardholder behavior, which is outside the control of the Company and its network customers (i.e., merchants, acquirers, issuers, and other network participants). As noted above, these contracts are typically without fixed durations and renew automatically. For these reasons, the Company does not make or disclose an estimate of revenue associated with performance obligations attributable to the remaining terms of these contracts. Future revenue associated with the Company’s sales-based royalty revenues earned from Diners Club licensees is similarly variable and open-ended, and therefore the Company does not make or disclose an estimate of royalties associated with performance obligations attributable to the remaining terms of the licensing and royalty arrangements. Because of the nature of the services and the manner of collection associated with the majority of the Company's revenue from contracts with customers, material receivables or deferred revenues are not generated.
16.17.Subsequent Events
Preferred Stock
On October 31, 2017, the Company issued 570,000 depositary shares, each representing a 1/100th interest in a share of Fixed-to-Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series C. The net proceeds to the Company was approximately $563 million. On November 1, 2017, the Company gave notice to redeem all 575,000 of its issued and outstanding shares of Fixed Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series B (the "Series B preferred stock") and all corresponding depositary shares. The Company estimateshas evaluated events and transactions that the redemption of Series B preferred stock will reduce net income allocatedhave occurred subsequent to common stockholders by approximately $15 millionJune 30, 2018 and determined that there were no subsequent events that would require recognition or disclosure in the fourth quarter as a result of the recognition of deferred issuance costs on Series B preferred stock.condensed consolidated financial statements.

Item 2.Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this quarterly report. This quarterly report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements, which speak to our expected business and financial performance, among other matters, contain words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “aim,” “will,” “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “likely,” and similar expressions. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of our management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this quarterly report, and there is no undertaking to update or revise them as more information becomes available.
The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements: changes in economic variables, such as the availability of consumer credit, the housing market, energy costs, the number and size of personal bankruptcy filings, the rate of unemployment, the levels of consumer confidence and consumer debt and investor sentiment; the impact of current, pending and future legislation, regulation, supervisory guidance and regulatory and legal actions, including, but not limited to, those related to financial regulatory reform, consumer financial services practices, anti-corruption and funding, capital and liquidity; the actions and initiatives of current and potential competitors; our ability to manage our expenses; our ability to successfully achieve card acceptance across our networks and maintain relationships with network participants; our ability to sustain and grow our private student loan, personal loan and home equity loan products; losses as a result of mortgage loan repurchase and indemnification obligations to secondary market purchasers; difficulty obtaining regulatory approval for, financing, transitioning, integrating or managing the expenses of acquisitions of or investments in new businesses, products or technologies; our ability to manage our credit risk, market risk, liquidity risk, operational risk, legal and compliance risk and strategic risk; the availability and cost of funding and capital; access to deposit, securitization, equity, debt and credit markets; the impact of rating agency actions; the level and volatility of equity prices, commodity prices and interest rates, currency values, investments, other market fluctuations and other market indices; losses in our investment portfolio; limits on our ability to pay dividends and repurchase our common stock; limits on our ability to receive payments from our subsidiaries; fraudulent activities or material security breaches of key systems; our ability to remain organizationally effective; our ability to increase or sustain Discover card usage or attract new customers; our ability to maintain relationships with merchants; the effect of political, economic and market conditions, geopolitical events and unforeseen or catastrophic events; our ability to introduce new products and services; our ability to manage our relationships with third-party vendors; our ability to maintain current technology and integrate new and acquired systems; our ability to collect amounts for disputed transactions from merchants and merchant acquirers; our ability to attract and retain employees; our ability to protect our reputation and our intellectual property; and new lawsuits, investigations or similar matters or unanticipated developments related to current matters. We routinely evaluate and may pursue acquisitions of or investments in businesses, products, technologies, loan portfolios or deposits, which may involve payment in cash or our debt or equity securities.
Additional factors that could cause our results to differ materially from those described below can be found in this section in this quarterly report and in “Risk Factors,” “Business—“Business — Competition,” “Business—“Business — Supervision and Regulation” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016,2017, which is filed with the SEC and available at the SEC’s internet site (http://www.sec.gov).
Introduction and Overview
Discover Financial Services ("DFS") is a direct banking and payment services company. We provide direct banking products and services and payment services through our subsidiaries. We offer our customers credit card loans, private student loans, personal loans, home equity loans and deposit products. We also operate the Discover Network, the PULSE network (“PULSE”) and Diners Club International (“Diners Club”). The Discover Network processes transactions for Discover-branded credit and debit cards and provides payment transaction processing and settlement services. PULSE operates an electronic funds transfer network, providing financial institutions issuing debit cards on the PULSE network with access to ATMs domestically and internationally, as well as point-of-sale terminals at retail locations throughout the U.S. for debit card transactions. Diners Club is a global payments network of licensees, which are generally financial institutions, that issue Diners Club branded charge cards and/or provide card acceptance services.
Our primary revenues consist of interest income earned on loan receivables and fees earned from customers, financial institutions, merchants and issuers. The primary expenses required to operate our business include funding costs (interest

expense), loan loss provisions, customer rewards and expenses incurred to grow, manage and service our loan receivables and

networks. Our business activities are funded primarily through consumer deposits, securitization of loan receivables and the issuance of unsecured debt.
Quarter Highlights
Net income for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 was $602$669 million compared to $639$546 million for the same period in 2016.2017.
Total loans grew $6.9$6.8 billion, or 9%, from SeptemberJune 30, 20162017 to $80.4$84.8 billion.
Credit card loans grew $5.5$6.0 billion, or 9%10%, to $63.5$67.8 billion, and Discover card sales volume increased 5%9% from SeptemberJune 30, 2016.2017.
Total net charge-off rate increased 40 basis points from the prior year to 3.11%. Net charge-off rate excluding PCI loans increased 6139 basis points from the prior year to 2.71%3.18% and the credit card delinquency rate for loans over 30 days past due increased 2716 basis points from the prior year to 2.14%2.16%.
Direct-to-consumer deposits grew $3.4$4.6 billion, or 10%12%, from the prior year to $38.7$42.3 billion.
Payment Services transaction dollar volume for the segment was $51.6$57.3 billion, up 16%14% from the prior year.year.
We received a non-objection to our 2018 Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review ("CCAR") submission from the Federal Reserve.
Outlook
We plan on continuing to provide strong capital returns to shareholders through executing on our 2017 capital plan. We will continue to make materialfocus on deploying capital through disciplined and profitable organic loan growth and by executing against our 2018 capital plan, which includes our share repurchase program and recently increased quarterly common stock dividend. Our marketing strategy remains focused on expanding wallet share with existing customers and adding new accounts. We expect the reduction in income tax expense resulting from the Tax Cuts and Job Act ("TCJA") to continue to benefit us and allow for continued investments in marketingbusiness growth, technology, analytical capabilities, our employees and remain focused on utilizing our rewards program to drive receivables growth. We expect this growth to result in higher interest income levels. Ourcommunity.

The total net charge-off rate is expected to be higherincrease in comparison to the prior year and we expect to add to the loan loss reserve to provide for the seasoning of recent loan growth and increasing consumer leverage as a result of supply drivensupply-driven credit normalization. The announced redemptionWe expect net interest margin to increase slightly due to the impact of prime rate increases on our preferred stock (see Note 16: Subsequent Eventsasset sensitive balance sheet and an expected shift in portfolio mix, which may be partially offset by higher deposit rates.

In our payments segment, we will continue to our condensed consolidated financial statements) will resultpursue new ways to drive volume growth in a reduction to earnings per share in the fourth quarter.
2018. We continue to leverage our network to support our card-issuing business. In our payments segment, we continue to pursue new ways to grow volumebusiness and we expect competitionthe payments industry to remain intense.competitive.
Regulatory Environment and Developments
In recent years, federal bankingFollowing the financial crisis of 2007-2008, regulators haveproposed and implemented and continue to propose and finalize new regulations and supervisory guidance, including under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Dodd-Frank Act"). Regulators have also, and increased their examination and enforcement action activities. In February 2017, an executive order was signed identifying principles by which the current administration would regulate the U.S financial system, including making regulation appropriately tailored and efficient. The Dodd-Frank Act creates a framework forexecutive order also directed the Treasury Secretary to identify laws, regulations, guidance and other government policies, among other things, that are inconsistent with those principles. Since June 2017, the Treasury Department has issued multiple reports that have recommended significant changes to many of the rules and regulations implemented in response to the financial crisis of 2007-2008.
Since 2016, Congress has addressed regulation of large systemically significantthe financial firms,services sector in several other ways. For example, it exercised its authority under the Congressional Review Act to reject recently promulgated regulations, including Discover, through a varietyregulation adopted by the Bureau of measures, including increased capitalConsumer Financial Protection (the "Bureau") that limited pre-dispute arbitration agreements.
On May 24, 2018, the President signed into law a package of legislative reforms titled the “Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and liquidity requirementsConsumer Protection Act”, which are intended to promote economic growth, provide tailored regulatory relief for smaller and limits on leverage and enhanced supervisory authority. The Dodd-Frank Act contains comprehensive provisions governing the practices and oversight ofless complex financial institutions, as well asand enhance consumer protections. Among other participants in the financial markets. We expect regulators to continue taking formal enforcement actions against financial institutions in addition to addressing concerns through non-public supervisory actions or findings. Whileprovisions, the new Congresslaw raises the asset threshold for designating a bank holding company as “systemically important” from $50 billion to $250 billion. The new law became effective immediately for bank holding companies with assets less than

$100 billion and Administration have expressed supportwill become effective 18 months from its enactment for Dodd-Frank modifications that could reduce regulatory burdens through a varietybanks with assets of channels including executive action, rulemaking and legislation, prospects for the enactment of significant changes are uncertain.
The impact$100 billion or more. Upon effectiveness of the evolvingnew law, bank holding companies with assets less than $250 billion will no longer automatically be subject to regulatory environment on our business and operations depends uponrequirements that establish enhanced prudential standards pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act. This change could impact a number of factors,regulations currently applicable to Discover, including requirements to conduct company-run stress tests, submit holding company resolution plans, and implement heightened liquidity risk management requirements. The extent of relief afforded to Discover under the legislation will depend on how it is implemented by the regulatory agencies. For bank holding companies with assets of $100 billion or more, the Federal Reserve will be required to conduct supervisory priorities and actions, our actions, those of our competitors and other marketplace participants,stress tests to assess capital adequacy on a “periodic” basis and the behaviorFederal Reserve will have authority to selectively apply “enhanced prudential standards” by rule or order to such firms if deemed necessary to prevent or mitigate systemic risks or promote safety and soundness after consideration of consumers. Regulatory developments, enforcement actions, findingsthe companies’ activities, size, and ratings could affect supervisory priorities, actions,risk profile. It is anticipated that the Federal Reserve and rule-making, as well as negatively impact our business strategies, require us to limit or change our business practices, limit our product offerings, invest more management time and resources in compliance efforts, limit the fees we can charge for services, limit our ability to pursue certain business opportunities and obtain related required regulatory approvals, or change how we compensate certain of our employees. For example, in 2016,other federal banking regulators issued a proposed rulemaking on incentive compensation which is prescriptivewill issue further guidance in nature and would require an extensive restructuringthe coming months to clarify their approaches to implementing the Act’s requirements. Another provision of incentive compensation practices for certain employees, including our executives. Any changesthe law authorizes the Social Security Administration to our business or compensation structure arising outshare information with financial institutions to help detect the unauthorized use of this rule could impact our abilitySocial Security numbers to attract, hire or retain certain personnel.open fraudulent accounts. The timing and substance of the final rule are unknown. In September 2017, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the "Federal Reserve") issued two proposals, one that would establish supervisory expectations for the

board of directors of bank holding companies and another that establishes a new rating system for the evaluation of large financial institutions. Comments on each of these proposals are due on November 30, 2017. The timing and substanceimpact of any final rulesinformation sharing program is unknown.
While advancing regulatory relief initiatives, policymakers at the federal and state levels are unknown. For more informationincreasingly focused on recent matters affecting Discover, see Note 12: Litigationmeasures to enhance data security and Regulatory Matters to our condensed consolidated financial statements. Regulatory developments, enforcement actions, findings and ratings could also have an impact on our strategies, the value of our assets, or otherwise adversely affect our businesses.
Asdata breach incident response capabilities as a result of the growing cybersecurity threatthreats and the number of incidents involving unauthorized access to consumer information, including the September 2017 disclosure of a large data breach at a national credit reporting agency, banking regulators and policymakers at the federal and state levels are increasingly focused on measures to enhance data security and incident response capabilities. The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council has revised examiner guidance for evaluating the adequacy of a financial institution's information security program and associated risk management practices. In addition, in October 2016, federal banking regulators issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking that provides for enhanced cyber risk management standards to increase the operational resilience of large financial services firms and reduce the systemic impact of a cybersecurity event. The timing and final form of any final rule is uncertain at this time. Legislationagency. Regulations at various levels of government has alsohave been proposed to address security breach notification and data security standards.standards and several states have recently issued regulations for certain firms operating within their jurisdiction. On June 28, 2018, the Governor of California signed the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) into law. The CCPA provides California residents with a broad set of additional privacy rights and remedies modeled in part on the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation. While the CCPA goes into effect on January 1, 2020, it may be amended before then. While it is too early to know their full impact, these developments could ultimately result in the imposition of requirements on Discover and other card issuers or networks that could increase costs or adversely affect the competitiveness of our credit card or debit card products. In addition, the size and scope
The impact of the 2017 national credit reporting agency breach may result in the financial services industry shifting to new means identifying and authenticating consumers.
Compliance expenditures have increased significantly for Discover and other financial services firms, and we expect them to continue to increase as regulators remain focusedevolving regulatory environment on controls and operational processes. We may face additional compliance and regulatory risk to the extent that we enter into new business arrangements with third-party service providers, alternative payment providers or other industry participants. The additional expense, time and resources needed to comply with ongoing regulatory requirements may adversely impact our business and resultsoperations depends upon a number of operations.factors, including supervisory priorities and actions, our actions, actions of our competitors and other marketplace participants, and the behavior of consumers. For more information on how the regulatory environment, enforcement actions, findings and ratings could also have an impact on our strategies, the value of our assets, or otherwise adversely affect our business see “Risk Factors — Economic and Regulatory Environment” of our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017. For more information on recent matters affecting us, see Note 12: Litigation and Regulatory Matters to our condensed consolidated financial statements.
Consumer Financial Services
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the "CFPB") regulates consumer financial products and services, as well as certain financial services providers, including Discover. The CFPBBureau has rulemaking and interpretive authority under the Dodd-Frank Act and other federal consumer financial services laws, as well as broad supervisory, examination and enforcement authority over designated financial services providers.providers, including Discover. The CFPB’sBureau’s regulatory authority includes the exercise of rulemaking, supervision and enforcement powers with respect to “unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices” and consumer access to fair, transparent and competitive financial products and services. The CFPB'sHistorically, the Bureau's policy priorities for 2017, as in recent years, include a focusfocused on several financial products of the type we offer (e.g. credit cards and student loans).
The CFPBBureau's interim director recently issued a final rule5-year strategic plan to ensure that will significantly limitall consumers have access to markets for consumer financial products and services, that laws are implemented and enforced consistently to make markets for consumer financial products and services fair, transparent and competitive, and that the useagency fosters efficient and effective processes and the security of pre-dispute arbitration agreementsresources and class action waivers. For more information, see Note 12: Litigation and Regulatory Matters to our condensed consolidated financial statements. 
information. In addition, the CFPB publishes regular Complaint Reports and Supervisory Highlights about specific products, services and practices. The CFPB also maintains an online consumer complaint portal that shows the naturefurtherance of each consumer's complaint and the financial services provider's responses, such as whether the requested relief was provided. The complaint portal allows consumers' narratives of their complaints to be included, althoughthese areas, the Bureau does not verifyhas issued formal requests for information on various topics. It is unclear when a new director will be confirmed and whether this director will continue the accuracy ofinterim director's priorities or goals. Notwithstanding any changes in the narratives. On July 29, 2016Bureau's leadership, the CFPB proposedBureau is required by statute to replace the dispute function on the portal, whereby the customer can dispute a company’s responseundertake certain actions. For example, pursuant to the complaint, with a survey that will allowCredit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, the customer to provide feedback on the financial services provider's handling of the complaint. The CFPB seeks to implement this survey in 2017. In addition to conducting regular examinations of regulated financial services providers the CFPB regularly collects account-level information about certain financial products (e.g. credit cards) from Discover and other large financial services providers. The CFPB's analysis of complaint and account-level data, together with its supervisory examinations, can inform future decisions about its regulatory and examination priorities and influence consumers' decisions about doing business with financial services providers.
Credit Cards
Pursuant to the CARD Act, the CFPB is conductingBureau recently completed its bi-annual review of the consumer credit card market. The review may result in additional guidance for credit card issuers, regulatory changes or legislative recommendations to Congress. The cost and availability of credit, credit disclosures and consumer experience with debt collectors continue to be

an area of focus of the CFPB. The CFPB may propose debt collection regulations that apply to our lending business in 2017. The CFPB is developing a comprehensive debt collection rule that is expected to address practices of both third party debt collectors, which are currently regulated under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and creditors like Discover.
Private Student Loans
There continues to be legislative and regulatory focus on the private student loan market, including by the CFPB, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the "FDIC") and some state legislatures and state attorneys general. ThisRecent areas of regulatory focus have included servicing, payments and collection

practices, which has resulted in an increase in supervisory examinations of Discover related to private student loans. On July 22, 2015,Legislative focus on student loans has resulted in the CFPB and Discover entered into a consent order pertaining to certainenactment of student loan servicing practiceslaws in several states, and consideration of Discover Bank, The Student Loan Corporation and Discover Products, Inc. See Note 12: Litigation and Regulatory Matters to our condensed consolidated financial statements for more information.
Recent areas of regulatory attention include servicing, payments and collection practices, originations at for-profit schools, and other matters. Student loan servicing laws have been enacted in California and the District of Columbia, and similar bills are pending elsewhere that would impose new licensing, servicing, reporting and regulatory oversight requirements on non-bankfor student loan servicers. The enactment of newSuch legislation, or the adoption of new regulationsregulation or guidance may increase the complexity and expense of servicing student loans. Legislatorsloans and regulators may take additional actions that impact the entire student loan market, in the future, which could cause us to change our private student loan products or servicing practices in ways that we may not currently anticipate.
Mortgage Lending
The mortgage industry continues to be an area of supervisory focus and the CFPB has stated that it will concentrate its examinations on a variety of mortgage-related topics including steering consumers to less favorable products, discrimination, abusive or unfair lending practices, predatory lending, origination disclosures, minimum mortgage underwriting standards, mortgage loan origination compensation and servicing practices. The CFPB has recently published several final rules impacting the mortgage industry. For example, on August 4, 2016, the CFPB issued final rules that expand the obligations of servicers and resolve some ambiguities. These changes will generally take effect in 2017. On July 7, 2017, the CFPB finalized updates to its "Know Before You Owe" mortgage disclosure rule. We are working to implement the changes for our home equity loan business.
Payment Networks
The Dodd-Frank Act contains several provisions impacting the debit card market, including network participation requirements and interchange fee limitations. The changing debit card environment, including competitor actions related to merchant and acquirer pricing and transaction routing strategies, has adversely affected, and is expected to continue to adversely affect, our PULSE network's business practices, network transaction volume, revenue and prospects for future growth. We continue to closely monitor competitor pricing and technology development strategies in order to assess their impact on our business and on competition in the marketplace. The U.S. Department of Justice is examining some of these competitor pricing strategies. In addition, PULSE filed a lawsuit against Visa in late 2014 with respect to these competitive concerns, which will significantlymay impact expenses for the payment services segment. In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act's network participation requirements impact PULSE's ability to enter into exclusivity arrangements, which affects PULSE's current business practices and may materially adversely affect its network transaction volume and revenue.
European interchange fee regulation entered into force in June 2015. The regulation, among other things, caps interchange fees of "four-party" networks such as Visa and MasterCard. However, the regulation provides that “three-party” networks should be treated as “four-party” networks when they license third-party providers to issue cards and/or acquire merchants or when they issue cards with a co-brand partner or through an agent. This means the caps apply to elements of the financial arrangements agreed to between Diners Club and each of our stand-alone acquirers in Western Europe. The caps took effect in December 2015. The regulation excludes commercial card transactions from the scope of the caps. The regulation also contains a number of business rules, which we have, to the extent applicable, implemented in our Diners Club business.
There are additional initiatives in Europe that may have an impact on our Diners Club business, including revisions to the Payment Services Directive ("PSD2") and the new General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"). The PSD2 was published in the Official Journal of the EU in December 2015. Each European Union member state willwas required to transpose the PSD2 into its national law and inby January 2018 the PSD2 will enter into force.13, 2018. Among other terms, the PSD2 includes provisions

that once transposed into local law will regulate surcharging and network access requirements, which may result in differential surcharging of Diners Club cards and may impact Diners Club licensing arrangements in Europe.Europe and may impact our Diners Club business. The European Parliament's Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee approved the final draft of the GDPR in December 2015. The final GDPR was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on May 4, 2016. Organizations have two years to prepare before the legislation comescame into force on May 25, 2018. We are preparingThe GDPR includes, among other things, a requirement for implementationprompt notice of data breaches and requires companies processing personal data of individuals residing in the EU, regardless of the GDPR.
The Chinese State Council previously announced that foreign payments companies would be ablelocation of the company, to participatecomply with EU privacy and data protection rules. We have a program in the Chinese domestic market and be eligibleplace to apply for a license to operate a Bank Card Clearing Institution ("BCCI") in China. In June 2016 the People’s Bank of China ("PBOC"), in conjunctioncomply with the China Banking Regulatory Commission, promulgated the Administrative Measures on BCCIs. On June 30, 2017, the PBOC published the implementation guidelines. We are analyzing any potential impact on our business and preparing for implementation.GDPR's requirements.
Capital, Liquidity and FundingBanking
Capital
Discover Financial Services and Discover Bank are subject to regulatory capital requirements that became effective January 1, 2015 under final rules issued by the Federal Reserve and the FDICFederal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") to implement the provisions under the Basel Committee’s December 2010 framework (referred to as “Basel III”). The final capital rules ("Basel III rules") require minimum risk-based capital and leverage ratios and define what constitutes capital for purposes of calculating those ratios. In addition, the Basel III rules establish a capital conservation buffer ("CCB") above the regulatory minimum capital requirements, which must consist entirely of Common Equity Tier 1 ("CET1") capital and result in higher required minimum ratios by up toat least 2.5%. The new capital conservation bufferCCB requirement became effective on January 1, 2016; however, the buffer threshold amounts are subject to a gradual phase-in period. In 2016,2017, the highest capital conservation bufferCCB threshold was 0.625%1.25%, which has risen to 1.25%1.875% for the 20172018 calendar year. The full 2.5% buffer requirement will not be fully phased-in until January 2019. A banking organization is subject to limitations on paying dividends, engaging in share repurchases and paying discretionary bonuses if its capital level falls below any of the minimum capital requirements, taking into account the applicable capital conservation bufferCCB thresholds. Based on our current capital composition and levels and business plans, we are and expect to continue to be in compliance with the requirements for the foreseeable future. For additional information, see "— Liquidity and Capital Resources — Capital."
Federal banking regulators jointly issued a proposed rule onin September 27, 2017 that would simplify the treatment of certain assets and deductions for institutions that are not subject to the advanced approaches capital rule. Among other things, the proposed rule would increase or adjust the deduction thresholds for certain mortgage servicing assets, deferred tax assets, investments in the capital of unconsolidated financial institutions, and minority interest.interests. As proposed, the new rules would apply to Discover Financial Services and its subsidiary banks. We are inWhile the process of assessing the potential impact ofbanking agencies consider comments on the proposed rule, changes.the agencies adopted a rule in November 2017, that provides interim relief to non-advanced approaches banking organizations, such as Discover, by extending the regulatory capital transition periods effective in 2017 for certain items, including regulatory capital deductions, risk weights, and certain minority interest limitations.
In December 2017, the Basel Committee adopted various standards meant to finalize remaining elements of the Basel III reforms first introduced in 2010. Among the new standards are revisions to the standardized approach for credit risk,

which establishes standardized risk weightings used to measure credit risk for purposes of calculating regulatory capital requirements. The new revisions include a provision that would, for the first time, require banking organizations to include a percentage of “unconditionally cancellable commitments” in risk-weighted asset calculations. If this change were to be adopted in the United States by the domestic federal banking agencies and made applicable to all "Standardized Approach" banking organizations such as Discover, it could require credit card issuers to substantially increase the amount of capital they hold against unused credit card lines. The federal banking agencies have publicly indicated support for the new Basel standards but stated that the standards were “designed for internationally active banks” and that any changes to the regulatory capital rules in the United States “will be made through the standard notice-and-comment rulemaking process.”
On April 10, 2018, the Federal Reserve issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would significantly revise the regulatory capital and stress testing frameworks for mid-sized bank holding companies such as Discover Financial Services. The proposal is intended to make regulatory capital requirements more forward-looking, risk-sensitive, and firm-specific by linking them to the annual CCAR stress testing and capital plan review process. The timing and substance of any final rulemaking is uncertain at this time, however the notice indicates the Federal Reserve intends to adopt a final rule that would be effective on December 31, 2018.
On April 17, 2018, federal banking agencies issued a joint proposal that would, among other things, give bank holding companies and banks, including Discover and its bank subsidiaries, the option to phase in the regulatory capital impacts of implementing the current expected credit loss ("CECL") approach over a three-year transition period. Recognition would be on a straight-line basis (i.e., 25% in year one, 50% in year two, 75% in year three and 100% thereafter). The timing and substance of any final rulemaking is uncertain at this time. For more information on CECL and how it may affect Discover, see Note 1: Background and Basis of Presentation to our condensed consolidated financial statements.
Liquidity
We are subject to the Federal Reserve's final rule implementing certain enhanced prudential standards under the Dodd-Frank Act for large U.S. bank holding companies, including enhanced liquidity and risk management requirements, which became effective January 1, 2015. The final rule prescribes a broad range of qualitative liquidity risk management practices.
Additionally, we are subject to the U.S. liquidity coverage ratio rule issued by federal banking regulators in 2014, which became effective on January 1, 2016.regulators. This quantitative requirement is designed to promote the short-term resilience of the liquidity risk profile of large and internationally active banking organizations in the United States. The rule requires covered banks to maintain an amount of high-quality liquid assets sufficient to cover projected net cash outflows during a prospective 30-day calendar period under an acute, hypothetical liquidity stress scenario. Given our current asset size, we are subject to a modified liquidity coverage ratio requirement, which requires a lower level of high-quality liquid assets to meet the minimum ratio requirement due to adjustments to the net cash outflow amount. Under the rule's transition period, we are required to maintain a liquidity ratio of 100% in 2017. As of SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, our liquidity coverage ratio was in excess of the applicable regulatory requirement. On December 19, 2016,Pursuant to the final rule issued by the Federal Reserve, issued a final rule thatwe will require banking institutions subject to the liquidity coverage ratio rulebe required to publish quarterly public disclosures regarding the company’sour liquidity risk profile and components of itsour liquidity coverage ratio calculation. Discover will be required to publish its first disclosure under the rule beginning the fourth quarter of 2018.
InFunding
On April 2016,3, 2018, the federal banking agencies issued a noticeFederal Reserve Bank of proposed rulemaking to implement, within the United States, the long-term liquidity standards previously issued at the international levelNew York began publication of three new reference rates based on overnight repurchase agreement transactions secured by the Basel Committee on Banking

Supervision. The proposed rule would impose aTreasury securities. These new quantitative liquidity requirement called the Net Stable Funding Ratio (“NSFR”) to ensure that covered banking organizations maintain stable funding to meet their funding needs over a one year time horizon. The NSFR is intended to complement the shorter-term liquidity coverage ratio requirement. Under the proposed rule, we wouldreference rates may be subject to a less stringent “modified” NSFR requirement. If adoptedused in future transactions as a final rule, the minimum NSFR requirements would take effect on January 1, 2018.
Funding
On July 27, 2017, the UK Financial Conduct Authority announced that it would no longer encourage or compel banks to continue to contribute quotes and maintain thereplacement for London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR"), which will no longer be maintained after 2021. LIBOR is commonly used as a benchmark to determine interest rates for2021, in certain financial products and instruments. We are analyzing the potential impact on our business.contracts.
Segments
We manage our business activities in two segments, Direct Banking and Payment Services, based on the products and services provided. For a detailed description of the operations of each segment, as well as the allocation conventions used in our business segment reporting, see Note 15: Segment Disclosures to our condensed consolidated financial statements.
The following table presents segment data (dollars in millions):
 For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30,
  
2017 2016 2017 2016
Direct Banking       
Interest income       
Credit card$2,026
 $1,812
 $5,818
 $5,279
Private student loans132
 112
 383
 329
PCI student loans39
 46
 121
 142
Personal loans224
 185
 629
 523
Other55
 29
 141
 85
Total interest income2,476
 2,184
 7,092
 6,358
Interest expense426
 359
 1,212
 1,032
Net interest income2,050
 1,825
 5,880
 5,326
Provision for loan losses675
 445
 1,908
 1,279
Other income401
 408
 1,184
 1,210
Other expense909
 857
 2,634
 2,576
Income before income tax expense867
 931
 2,522
 2,681
Payment Services       
Provision for loan losses(1) 
 (8) 2
Other income74
 68
 219
 205
Other expense39
 38
 111
 111
Income before income tax expense36
 30
 116
 92
Total income before income tax expense$903
 $961
 $2,638
 $2,773
        

The following table presents information on transaction volume (in millions):
 For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30,
 2017 2016 2017 2016
Network Transaction Volume       
PULSE Network$39,828
 $33,913
 $114,742
 $102,449
Network Partners3,811
 3,313
 10,933
 10,598
Diners Club(1)
7,989
 7,331
 23,171
 21,267
Total Payment Services51,628
 44,557
 148,846
 134,314
Discover Network—Proprietary(2)
33,576
 31,759
 96,777
 92,115
Total Volume$85,204
 $76,316
 $245,623
 $226,429
Transactions Processed on Networks       
Discover Network579
 535
 1,633
 1,559
PULSE Network996
 871
 2,827
 2,565
Total1,575
 1,406
 4,460
 4,124
Credit Card Volume       
Discover Card Volume(3)
$35,581
 $33,471
 $103,284
 $96,884
Discover Card Sales Volume(4)
$32,161
 $30,683
 $93,467
 $88,937
   

    
The following table presents segment data (dollars in millions):
 For the Three Months Ended June 30, For the Six Months Ended June 30,
  
2018 2017 2018 2017
Direct Banking       
Interest income       
Credit card$2,139
 $1,916
 $4,229
 $3,792
Private student loans150
 127
 297
 251
PCI student loans35
 41
 72
 82
Personal loans229
 207
 455
 405
Other83
 47
 152
 86
Total interest income2,636
 2,338
 5,205
 4,616
Interest expense507
 400
 976
 786
Net interest income2,129
 1,938
 4,229
 3,830
Provision for loan losses742
 639
 1,493
 1,233
Other income398
 408
 792
 783
Other expense948
 876
 1,880
 1,725
Income before income tax expense837
 831
 1,648
 1,655
Payment Services       
Provision for loan losses
 1
 
 (7)
Other income76
 73
 157
 145
Other expense36
 36
 72
 72
Income before income tax expense40
 36
 85
 80
Total income before income tax expense$877
 $867
 $1,733
 $1,735
        
The following table presents information on transaction volume (in millions):
 For the Three Months Ended June 30, For the Six Months Ended June 30,
 2018 2017 2018 2017
Network Transaction Volume       
PULSE Network$44,308
 $38,848
 $87,466
 $74,914
Network Partners4,602
 3,461
 9,155
 7,122
Diners Club(1)
8,417
 7,800
 16,807
 15,182
Total Payment Services57,327
 50,109
 113,428
 97,218
Discover Network—Proprietary(2)
36,339
 33,342
 68,721
 63,201
Total Volume$93,666
 $83,451
 $182,149
 $160,419
Transactions Processed on Networks       
Discover Network614
 551
 1,164
 1,054
PULSE Network1,055
 961
 2,044
 1,831
Total1,669
 1,512
 3,208
 2,885
Credit Card Volume       
Discover Card Volume(3)
$38,430
 $35,297
 $72,757
 $67,703
Discover Card Sales Volume(4)
$35,077
 $32,172
 $65,927
 $61,306
   

    
(1)Diners Club volume is derived from data provided by licensees for Diners Club branded cards issued outside North America and is subject to subsequent revision or amendment.
(2)Represents gross proprietary sales volume on the Discover Network.
(3)Represents Discover card activity related to net sales, balance transfers, cash advances and other activity.
(4)Represents Discover card activity related to net sales.

Direct Banking
Our Direct Banking segment reported pretax income of $867$837 million and $2.5$1.6 billion for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017, respectively,2018 as compared to pretax income of $931$831 million and $2.7$1.7 billion for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2016, respectively.2017.
Net interest margin increased for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 as compared to the same periods in 20162017 primarily driven by higher yields on credit card loans, partially offset by higher funding costs. The increase in yields on credit card loans was primarily due to prime rate increases and acosts, both of which were the result of higher portion of revolving card receivables, partially offset by higher promotional balances in the card portfolio and higher interest charge-offs.market rates. Interest income increased during the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 as compared to the same periods in 20162017 due to loan growth and yield expansion.expansion resulting from prime rate increases. Interest expense increased during the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 as compared to the same periods in 20162017 primarily due to a larger funding base, higher market rates and a change inlarger funding mix.base.
For the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, the provision for loan losses increased as compared to the same periods in 20162017 primarily due to higher levels of charge-offs combined with a larger reserve build.net charge-offs. For a detailed discussion on provision for loan losses, see "— Loan Quality — Provision and Allowance for Loan Losses."
Total other income remained flatdecreased in the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and decreasedincreased in the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018, respectively, as compared to the same periods in 2016.2017. During the ninethree and six months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, the decreasechange was primarily due primarily to higher promotional rewards offset by the increase in discount and interchange revenue both of which were primarily the result ofdriven by higher sales volume. Thevolume, which was more than offset by higher promotional rewards in the second quarter of 2018. In addition, the increase in loan fee income was driven primarily due toby an increase in late fees.
Total other expense increased in the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 as compared to the same periods in 2016. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, the2017. The increase was primarily driven by an increase inhigher employee compensation and benefits, and professional fees offset by a decrease in information processingmarketing and communications.business development. The increase in employee compensation and benefits was primarily driven by the impact of addeddue to additional headcount for regulatorybusiness growth and compliance needs andtechnological capabilities, as well as higher average salaries. The increase in professional feesmarketing and business development was driven primarily by investments in technologyhigher brand advertising and infrastructure as well as higher spend in collection efforts in 2017, offset by the completion of a look back project related to anti-money laundering remediation in 2016. The decrease in information processingacquisition costs targeting loan and communications was primarily the result of infrastructure efficiencies.

deposit growth.
Discover card sales volume was $32.2$35.1 billion and $93.5$65.9 billion for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, respectively, which was an increase of 4.8%9.0% and 5.1%7.5%, respectively, as compared to the same periods in 2016.2017. This volume growth was primarily driven by an increase in consumer spending.active cardmembers.
Payment Services
Our Payment Services segment reported pretax income of $36$40 million and $116$85 million for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, respectively, as compared to pretax income of $30$36 million and $92$80 million for the same periods in 2016.2017. The increase in segment pretax income was primarily driven by an increase in transaction processing revenue due to higher point-of-sale transactions.other income driven by higher volume.
Downturns in the global economy or negative impacts in foreign currency may adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations in our Payment Services segment. We continue to work with our Diners Club licensees with regard to their ability to maintain financing sufficient to support business operations. We may continue to provide additional support in the future, including loans, facilitating transfer of ownership, or acquiring assets or licensees, which may cause us to incur losses. The licensees that we currently consider to be of concern accounted for approximately 3% and 4% of Diners Club revenues during the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017, respectively.2018.
Critical Accounting Estimates
In preparing our condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP"), management must make judgments and use estimates and assumptions about the effects of matters that are uncertain. For estimates that involve a high degree of judgment and subjectivity, it is possible that different estimates could reasonably be derived for the same period. For estimates that are particularly sensitive to changes in economic or market conditions, significant changes to the estimated amount from period to period are also possible. Management believes the current assumptions and other considerations used to estimate amounts reflected in our condensed consolidated financial statements are appropriate. However, if actual experience differs from the assumptions and other considerations used in estimating amounts in our condensed consolidated financial statements, the resulting changes could have a material effect on our consolidated results of operations and, in certain cases, could have a material effect on our consolidated financial condition. Management has identified the estimates related to our allowance for loan losses, the evaluation of goodwill and other non-amortizable intangible assets for potential impairment and the accrual of income taxes and estimates of future cash flows associated with PCI loans

as critical accounting estimates. These critical accounting estimates are discussed in greater detail in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016.2017. That discussion can be found within “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” under the heading “—Operations — Critical Accounting Estimates.” There have not been any material changes in the methods used to formulate these critical accounting estimates from those discussed in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016.2017.
Earnings Summary
The following table outlines changes in our condensed consolidated statements of income (dollars in millions):
For the Three Months Ended September 30,  2017 vs. 2016
Increase (Decrease)
 For the Nine Months Ended September 30,  2017 vs. 2016
Increase (Decrease)
For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2018 vs. 2017
Increase (Decrease)
 For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2018 vs. 2017
Increase (Decrease)
2017 2016 $ % 2017 2016 $ %2018 2017 $ % 2018 2017 $ %
Interest income$2,476
 $2,184
 $292
 13 % $7,092
 $6,358
 $734
 12 %$2,636
 $2,338
 $298
 13 % $5,205
 $4,616
 $589
 13 %
Interest expense426
 359
 67
 19 % 1,212
 1,032
 180
 17 %507
 400
 107
 27 % 976
 786
 190
 24 %
Net interest income2,050
 1,825
 225
 12 % 5,880
 5,326
 554
 10 %2,129
 1,938
 191
 10 % 4,229
 3,830
 399
 10 %
Provision for loan losses674
 445
 229
 51 % 1,900
 1,281
 619
 48 %742
 640
 102
 16 % 1,493
 1,226
 267
 22 %
Net interest income after provision for loan losses1,376
 1,380
 (4)  % 3,980
 4,045
 (65) (2)%1,387
 1,298
 89
 7 % 2,736
 2,604
 132
 5 %
Other income475
 476
 (1)  % 1,403
 1,415
 (12) (1)%474
 481
 (7) (1)% 949
 928
 21
 2 %
Other expense948
 895
 53
 6 % 2,745
 2,687
 58
 2 %984
 912
 72
 8 % 1,952
 1,797
 155
 9 %
Income before income tax expense903
 961
 (58) (6)% 2,638
 2,773
 (135) (5)%877
 867
 10
 1 % 1,733
 1,735
 (2)  %
Income tax expense301
 322
 (21) (7)% 926
 943
 (17) (2)%208
 321
 (113) (35)% 398
 625
 (227) (36)%
Net income$602
 $639
 $(37) (6)% $1,712
 $1,830
 $(118) (6)%$669
 $546
 $123
 23 % $1,335
 $1,110
 $225
 20 %
                              

Net Interest Income
The table that follows this section has been provided to supplement the discussion below and provide further analysis of net interest income and net interest margin. Net interest income represents the difference between interest income earned on our interest-earning assets and the interest expense incurred to finance those assets. We analyze net interest income in total by calculating net interest margin (net interest income as a percentage of average total loan receivables) and net yield on interest-bearinginterest-earning assets (net interest income as a percentage of average total interest-earning assets). We also separately consider the impact of the level of loan receivables and the related interest yield and the impact of the cost of funds related to each of our funding sources, along with the income generated by our liquidity portfolio, on net interest income.
Our interest-earning assets consist of: (i) cash and cash equivalents primarily related to amounts on deposit with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, (ii) restricted cash, (iii) other short-term investments, (iv) investment securities and (v) loan receivables. Our interest-bearing liabilities consist primarily of deposits, both direct-to-consumer and brokered, and long-term borrowings, including amounts owed to securitization investors. Net interest income is influenced by the following:
The level and composition of loan receivables, including the proportion of credit card loans to other loans, as well as the proportion of loan receivables bearing interest at promotional rates as compared to standard rates;
The credit performance of our loans, particularly with regard to charge-offs of finance charges, which reduce interest income;
The terms of long-term borrowings and certificates of deposit upon initial offering, including maturity and interest rate;
The level and composition of other interest-bearinginterest-earning assets, and liabilities, including our liquidity portfolio;portfolio and interest-bearing liabilities;
Changes in the interest rate environment, including the levels of interest rates and the relationships among interest rate indices, such as the prime rate, the Federal Funds rate, interest rate on excess reserves and LIBOR;
The effectiveness of interest rate swaps in our interest rate risk management program; and
The difference between the carrying amount and future cash flows expected to be collected on PCI loans.
Net interest margin increased for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 as compared to the same periods in 20162017 primarily driven by higher yields on credit card loans, partially offset by higher funding costs. The increase in yields on credit card loans was primarily due to prime rate increases and acosts, both of which were the result of higher portion of revolving card receivables, partially offset by higher promotional balances in the card portfolio and higher interest charge-offs.market rates. Interest income increased during the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 as compared to the same periods in 20162017 due to loan growth and yield expansion.expansion resulting from prime rate increases. Interest expense increased during the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 as compared to the same periods in 20162017 primarily due to a larger funding base, higher market rates and a change inlarger funding mix.base.

Average Balance Sheet Analysis
(dollars in millions)
Average Balance Sheet Analysis
(dollars in millions)
Average Balance Sheet Analysis
(dollars in millions)
For the Three Months Ended September 30,For the Three Months Ended June 30,
2017 20162018 2017
Average Balance Rate Interest Average Balance Rate InterestAverage Balance Rate Interest Average Balance Rate Interest
Assets                      
Interest-earning assets                      
Cash and cash equivalents$12,895
 1.26% $42
 $10,419
 0.50% $13
$14,870
 1.82% $68
 $12,921
 1.05% $35
Restricted cash848
 1.15% 2
 621
 0.32% 1
466
 1.85% 2
 559
 0.89% 1
Other short-term investments
 % 
 1,048
 0.87% 2
Investment securities1,652
 1.62% 6
 2,294
 1.49% 9
1,525
 1.67% 6
 1,695
 1.58% 7
Loan receivables(1)
                      
Credit card(2)
62,647
 12.83% 2,026
 57,561
 12.53% 1,812
66,594
 12.88% 2,139
 60,700
 12.66% 1,916
Personal loans7,208
 12.33% 224
 6,036
 12.23% 186
7,304
 12.55% 228
 6,820
 12.22% 208
Private student loans6,725
 7.79% 132
 6,023
 7.41% 112
7,321
 8.21% 150
 6,634
 7.71% 127
PCI student loans2,261
 6.88% 39
 2,772
 6.52% 45
1,898
 7.45% 35
 2,386
 6.72% 40
Other348
 5.56% 5
 276
 4.96% 4
531
 6.02% 8
 314
 5.59% 4
Total loan receivables79,189
 12.15% 2,426
 72,668
 11.82% 2,159
83,648
 12.28% 2,560
 76,854
 11.98% 2,295
Total interest-earning assets94,584
 10.39% 2,476
 87,050
 9.98% 2,184
100,509
 10.52% 2,636
 92,029
 10.19% 2,338
Allowance for loan losses(2,379)     (1,947)    (2,731)     (2,262)    
Other assets4,192
     4,282
    4,170
     4,147
    
Total assets$96,397
     $89,385
    $101,948
     $93,914
    
Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity                      
Interest-bearing liabilities                      
Interest-bearing deposits                      
Time deposits(3)
$26,862
 1.93% 131
 $24,495
 1.83% 112
$29,829
 2.14% 159
 $26,054
 1.90% 123
Money market deposits(4)
6,772
 1.35% 23
 6,939
 1.10% 19
6,938
 1.73% 30
 6,808
 1.25% 21
Other interest-bearing savings deposits20,458
 1.23% 64
 17,321
 1.05% 47
23,858
 1.65% 98
 19,694
 1.11% 55
Total interest-bearing deposits(5)
54,092
 1.59% 218
 48,755
 1.45% 178
60,625
 1.90% 287
 52,556
 1.52% 199
Borrowings                      
Short-term borrowings1
 1.33% 
 2
 0.62% 
1
 1.89% 
 2
 1.06% 
Securitized borrowings(3)(4)
17,206
 2.37% 103
 16,736
 2.07% 87
16,121
 2.67% 108
 16,141
 2.31% 93
Other long-term borrowings(3)
9,721
 4.30% 105
 8,746
 4.27% 94
9,866
 4.57% 112
 9,979
 4.36% 108
Total borrowings26,928
 3.07% 208
 25,484
 2.82% 181
25,988
 3.39% 220
 26,122
 3.09% 201
Total interest-bearing liabilities81,020
 2.08% 426
 74,239
 1.92% 359
86,613
 2.35% 507
 78,678
 2.04% 400
Other liabilities and stockholders’ equity15,377
     15,146
    15,335
     15,236
    
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity$96,397
     $89,385
    $101,948
     $93,914
    
Net interest income    $2,050
     $1,825
    $2,129
     $1,938
Net interest margin(6)
  10.28%     9.99%    10.21%     10.11%  
Net yield on interest-bearing assets(7)
  8.60%     8.34%  
Net yield on interest-earning assets(7)
  8.50%     8.44%  
Interest rate spread(8)
  8.31%     8.06%    8.17%     8.15%  
                      
                      

Average Balance Sheet Analysis
(dollars in millions)
Average Balance Sheet Analysis
(dollars in millions)
Average Balance Sheet Analysis
(dollars in millions)
For the Nine Months Ended September 30,For the Six Months Ended June 30,
2017 20162018 2017
Average
Balance
 Rate Interest 
Average
Balance
 Rate Interest
Average
Balance
 Rate Interest 
Average
Balance
 Rate Interest
Assets                      
Interest-earning assets                      
Cash and cash equivalents$13,166
 1.04% $103
 $10,541
 0.50% $40
$14,193
 1.70% $120
 $13,304
 0.92% $61
Restricted cash742
 0.92% 5
 562
 0.37% 2
643
 1.61% 5
 689
 0.78% 3
Other short-term investments
 % 
 635
 0.86% 3
Investment securities1,693
 1.61% 20
 2,662
 1.49% 30
1,537
 1.71% 13
 1,713
 1.60% 14
Loan receivables(1)
                      
Credit card(2)
61,165
 12.72% 5,818
 56,606
 12.46% 5,279
66,290
 12.87% 4,229
 60,413
 12.66% 3,792
Personal loans6,872
 12.24% 629
 5,717
 12.23% 523
7,345
 12.49% 455
 6,702
 12.20% 405
Private student loans6,679
 7.67% 383
 5,953
 7.38% 329
7,367
 8.12% 296
 6,656
 7.62% 251
PCI student loans2,388
 6.75% 121
 2,906
 6.51% 142
1,958
 7.41% 72
 2,452
 6.69% 81
Other316
 5.52% 13
 260
 5.06% 10
492
 6.00% 15
 298
 5.50% 9
Total loan receivables77,420
 12.03% 6,964
 71,442
 11.75% 6,283
83,452
 12.24% 5,067
 76,521
 11.96% 4,538
Total interest-earning assets93,021
 10.19% 7,092
 85,842
 9.89% 6,358
99,825
 10.52% 5,205
 92,227
 10.09% 4,616
Allowance for loan losses(2,270)     (1,910)    (2,674)     (2,214)    
Other assets4,169
     4,411
    4,196
     4,157
    
Total assets$94,920
     $88,343
    $101,347
     $94,170
    
Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity                      
Interest-bearing liabilities                      
Interest-bearing deposits                      
Time deposits(3)
$26,512
 1.90% 376
 $24,874
 1.75% 325
$30,023
 2.09% 311
 $26,335
 1.88% 245
Money market deposits(4)
6,830
 1.25% 64
 6,942
 1.07% 55
6,856
 1.66% 56
 6,859
 1.20% 41
Other interest-bearing savings deposits19,732
 1.14% 168
 16,260
 1.03% 126
23,168
 1.59% 182
 19,363
 1.09% 104
Total interest-bearing deposits(5)
53,074
 1.53% 608
 48,076
 1.41% 506
60,047
 1.85% 549
 52,557
 1.50% 390
Borrowings                      
Short-term borrowings2
 1.02% 
 2
 0.63% 
1
 1.82% 
 2
 0.89% 
Securitized borrowings(3)(4)
16,770
 2.29% 287
 16,773
 2.06% 258
16,150
 2.55% 204
 16,548
 2.24% 184
Other long-term borrowings(3)
9,767
 4.35% 317
 8,224
 4.35% 268
9,906
 4.53% 223
 9,791
 4.37% 212
Total borrowings26,539
 3.04% 604
 24,999
 2.81% 526
26,057
 3.30% 427
 26,341
 3.03% 396
Total interest-bearing liabilities79,613
 2.03% 1,212
 73,075
 1.89% 1,032
86,104
 2.29% 976
 78,898
 2.01% 786
Other liabilities and stockholders’ equity15,307
     15,268
    15,243
     15,272
    
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity$94,920
     $88,343
    $101,347
     $94,170
    
Net interest income    $5,880
     $5,326
    $4,229
     $3,830
Net interest margin(6)
  10.16%     9.96%    10.22%     10.09%  
Net yield on interest-bearing assets(7)
  8.45%     8.29%    8.54%     8.37%  
Interest rate spread(8)
  8.16%     8.00%    8.23%     8.08%  
                      
(1)Average balances of loan receivables include non-accruing loans, which are included in the yield calculations. If the non-accruing loan balances were excluded, there would not be a material impact on the amounts reported above.
(2)Interest income on credit card loans includes $55$60 million and $51$54 million of amortization of balance transfer fees for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and 2016, respectively. Interest income on credit card loans includes $161$119 million and $144$106 million of amortization of balance transfer fees for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and 2016,2017, respectively.
(3)Includes the impact of interest rate swap agreements used to change a portion of fixed-rate funding to floating-rate funding.
(4)Includes the impact of interest rate swap agreements used to change a portion of floating-rate funding to fixed-rate funding.
(5)Includes the impact of FDIC insurance premiums and Large Institution Surcharge.
(6)Net interest margin represents net interest income as a percentage of average total loan receivables.
(7)Net yield on interest-bearinginterest-earning assets represents net interest income as a percentage of average total interest-earning assets.
(8)Interest rate spread represents the difference between the rate on total interest-earning assets and the rate on total interest-bearing liabilities.

Loan Quality
Loan receivables consist of the following (dollars in millions):
Loan receivables consist of the following (dollars in millions):
Loan receivables consist of the following (dollars in millions):
September 30,
2017
 December 31, 2016June 30,
2018
 December 31, 2017
Loan receivables      
Credit card loans$63,475
 $61,522
$67,812
 $67,291
Other loans      
Personal loans7,397
 6,481
7,304
 7,374
Private student loans6,998
 6,393
7,260
 7,076
Other371
 274
571
 423
Total other loans14,766
 13,148
15,135
 14,873
PCI loans(1)
2,202
 2,584
1,842
 2,084
Total loan receivables80,443
 77,254
84,789
 84,248
Allowance for loan losses(2,531) (2,167)(2,828) (2,621)
Net loan receivables$77,912
 $75,087
$81,961
 $81,627
      
(1)Represents PCI private student loans. See Note 3: Loan Receivables to our condensed consolidated financial statements for more information regarding PCI loans.
Provision and Allowance for Loan Losses
Provision for loan losses is the expense related to maintaining the allowance for loan losses at an appropriate level to absorb the estimated probable losses in the loan portfolio at each period end date. While establishing the estimate for probable losses requires significant management judgment, the factors that influence the provision for loan losses include:
The impact of current and predictive general economic conditions on the consumer, including national and regional conditions, unemployment levels, bankruptcy trends and interest rate movements;
Changes in consumer spending, payment and paymentcredit utilization behaviors;
Changes in our loan portfolio, including the overall mix of accounts, products and loan balances within the portfolio and maturation of the loan portfolio;
The level and direction of historical and anticipated loan delinquencies and charge-offs;
The credit quality of the loan portfolio, which reflects, among other factors, our credit granting practices and effectiveness of collection efforts; and
Regulatory changes or new regulatory guidance.
In determining the allowance for loan losses, we estimate probable losses separately for segments of the loan portfolio that have similar risk characteristics. We use a migration analysis to estimate the likelihood that a loan will progress through the various stages of delinquency. We use other analyses to estimate losses incurred from non-delinquent accounts, which adds to the identification of loss emergence. We use these analyses together as a basis for determining our allowance for loan losses.
The provision for loan losses is the amount of expense realized after considering the level of net charge-offs in the period and the required amount of allowance for loan losses at the balance sheet date. For the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, the provision for loan losses increased by $229$102 million and $267 million, or 51%,16% and $619 million, or 48%22%, respectively, as compared to the same periods in 2016. The increase was2017 primarily due to higher levels of charge-offs combined with a larger reserve build for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 as compared to the same periods in 2016.
During the quarter, certain customers with accounts in Federal Emergency Management Agency designated hurricane disaster areas were provided relief that had the effect of freezing the customer payment status, suspending late fees and placing a hold on collection efforts. We recorded an adjustment of $17 million to expense for loans that would have otherwise charged off without such relief. The ultimate impact may be somewhat greater than this amount as we continue to evaluate the longer term ramifications on borrowers in the affected areas.

net charge-offs.
The allowance for loan losses was $2.5$2.8 billion at SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, which reflects a $364$207 million reserve build over the amount of the allowance for loan losses at December 31, 2016.2017. The reserve build, which related primarily to credit card loans, was due to seasoning of continued loan growth and increasing consumer leverage.supply driven credit normalization.

The following tables provide changes in our allowance for loan losses (dollars in millions):
For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2017For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2018
Credit Card Personal Loans 
Student Loans(1)
 Other TotalCredit Card Personal Loans 
Student Loans(1)
 Other Total
Balance at beginning of period$1,980
 $235
 $159
 $10
 $2,384
$2,252
 $301
 $170
 $13
 $2,736
Additions                  
Provision for loan losses550
 91
 34
 (1) 674
637
 84
 22
 (1) 742
Deductions                  
Charge-offs(555) (64) (32) 
 (651)(684) (80) (24) (1) (789)
Recoveries116
 6
 2
 
 124
129
 8
 3
 
 140
Net charge-offs(439) (58) (30) 
 (527)(555) (72) (21) (1) (649)
Other(2)

 
 (1) 
 (1)
Balance at end of period$2,091
 $268
 $163
 $9
 $2,531
$2,334
 $313
 $170
 $11
 $2,828


       



       

For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2016For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2017
Credit Card Personal Loans 
Student Loans(1)
 Other TotalCredit Card Personal Loans 
Student Loans(1)
 Other Total
Balance at beginning of period$1,603
 $176
 $151
 $19
 $1,949
$1,892
 $207
 $156
 $9
 $2,264
Additions                  
Provision for loan losses372
 51
 21
 1
 445
533
 82
 23
 2
 640
Deductions                  
Charge-offs(425) (46) (17) 
 (488)(561) (61) (22) (1) (645)
Recoveries111
 5
 2
 
 118
116
 7
 2
 
 125
Net charge-offs(314) (41) (15) 
 (370)(445) (54) (20) (1) (520)
Balance at end of period$1,661
 $186
 $157
 $20
 $2,024
$1,980
 $235
 $159
 $10
 $2,384
                  
For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2018
Credit Card Personal Loans 
Student Loans(1)
 Other TotalCredit Card Personal Loans 
Student Loans(1)
 Other Total
Balance at beginning of period$1,790
 $200
 $158
 $19
 $2,167
$2,147
 $301
 $162
 $11
 $2,621
Additions                  
Provision for loan losses1,607
 231
 69
 (7) 1,900
1,282
 157
 53
 1
 1,493
Deductions                  
Charge-offs(1,651) (182) (71) (3) (1,907)(1,347) (161) (49) (1) (1,558)
Recoveries345
 19
 7
 
 371
252
 16
 6
 
 274
Net charge-offs(1,306) (163) (64) (3) (1,536)(1,095) (145) (43) (1) (1,284)
Other(2)

 
 (2) 
 (2)
Balance at end of period$2,091
 $268
 $163
 $9
 $2,531
$2,334
 $313
 $170
 $11
 $2,828



 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2017
Credit Card Personal Loans 
Student Loans(1)
 Other TotalCredit Card Personal Loans 
Student Loans(1)
 Other Total
Balance at beginning of period$1,554
 $155
 $143
 $17
 $1,869
$1,790
 $200
 $158
 $19
 $2,167
Additions                  
Provision for loan losses1,081
 139
 58
 3
 1,281
1,057
 140
 35
 (6) 1,226
Deductions                  
Charge-offs(1,312) (123) (51) 
 (1,486)(1,096) (118) (39) (3) (1,256)
Recoveries338
 15
 7
 
 360
229
 13
 5
 
 247
Net charge-offs(974) (108) (44) 
 (1,126)(867) (105) (34) (3) (1,009)
Balance at end of period$1,661
 $186
 $157
 $20
 $2,024
$1,980
 $235
 $159
 $10
 $2,384
                  
(1)Includes both PCI and non-PCI private student loans.
(2)Net change in reserves on PCI pools having no remaining non-accretable difference.

Net Charge-offs
Our net charge-offs include the principal amount of losses charged off less principal recoveries and exclude charged-off and recovered interest and fees and fraud losses. Charged-off and recovered interest and fees are recorded in interest income and loan fee income, respectively, which is effectively a reclassification of the provision for loan losses, while fraud losses are recorded in other expense. Credit card loan receivables are charged off at the end of the month during which an account becomes 180 days contractually past due. Personal loans and private student loans, which are closed-end consumer loan receivables, are generally charged off at the end of the month during which an account becomes 120 days contractually past due. Generally, customer bankruptcies and probate accounts are charged off at the end of the month 60 days following the receipt of notification of the bankruptcy or death but not later than the 180-day or 120-day contractual time frame.
The following table presents amounts and rates of net charge-offs of key loan products (dollars in millions):
For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30,For the Three Months Ended June 30, For the Six Months Ended June 30,
2017 2016 2017 20162018 2017 2018 2017
$ % $ % $ % $ %$ % $ % $ % $ %
Credit card loans$439
 2.80% $314
 2.17% $1,306
 2.86% $974
 2.30%$555
 3.34% $445
 2.94% $1,095
 3.33% $867
 2.89%
Personal loans$58
 3.19% $41
 2.63% $163
 3.18% $108
 2.49%$72
 3.97% $54
 3.18% $145
 4.00% $105
 3.17%
Private student loans (excluding PCI(1))
$30
 1.52% $15
 1.02% $64
 1.17% $44
 0.99%$21
 1.16% $20
 1.15% $43
 1.17% $34
 0.99%
                              
(1)Charge-offs for PCI loans did not result in a charge to earnings during any of the periods presented and are therefore excluded from the calculation. See Note 3: Loan Receivables to our condensed consolidated financial statements for more information regarding the accounting for charge-offs on PCI loans.
The net charge-off rates on our credit card loans,and personal loans increased 40 and private student loans excluding PCI increased by 63, 56, and 5079 basis points, respectively, for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017, respectively, when compared to the same period in 2016. The net charge-off rates on our credit card loans, personal loans2018 and private student loans excluding PCI increased by 56, 6944 and 1883 basis points, respectively, for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017, respectively,2018 when compared to the same periods in 2016.2017. The increase for all three portfolioscredit card and personal loans was driven by seasoning of continued loan growth and increasing consumer leverage.supply driven credit normalization. The net charge-off rate on our private student loans remained relatively flat for the three months ended June 30, 2018 and increased 18 basis points for the six months ended June 30, 2018 when compared to the same periods in 2017. The increase for the six months ended June 30, 2018 was driven by seasoning of continued loan growth and supply driven credit normalization.

Delinquencies
Delinquencies are an indicator of credit quality at a point in time. A loan balance is considered delinquent when contractual payments on the loan become 30 days past due.
The following table presents the amounts and rates of key loan products that are 30 and 90 days or more delinquent, loan receivables that are not accruing interest, regardless of delinquency and restructured loans (dollars in millions):
The following table presents the amounts and delinquency rates of key loan products that are 30 and 90 days or more delinquent, loan receivables that are not accruing interest, regardless of delinquency and restructured loans (dollars in millions):The following table presents the amounts and delinquency rates of key loan products that are 30 and 90 days or more delinquent, loan receivables that are not accruing interest, regardless of delinquency and restructured loans (dollars in millions):
September 30, 2017 December 31, 2016June 30, 2018 December 31, 2017
$ % $ %$ % $ %
Loans 30 or more days delinquent              
Credit card loans$1,359
 2.14% $1,252
 2.04%$1,466
 2.16% $1,532
 2.28%
Personal loans$94
 1.27% $74
 1.12%$104
 1.42% $103
 1.40%
Private student loans (excluding PCI loans(1))
$150
 2.14% $141
 2.22%$152
 2.10% $167
 2.35%
              
Loans 90 or more days delinquent              
Credit card loans$646
 1.02% $597
 0.97%$743
 1.09% $751
 1.12%
Personal loans$26
 0.35% $19
 0.29%$30
 0.42% $30
 0.41%
Private student loans (excluding PCI loans(1))
$36
 0.52% $35
 0.55%$46
 0.64% $33
 0.47%
              
Loans not accruing interest$225
 0.29% $216
 0.29%$244
 0.29% $233
 0.28%
              
Restructured loans              
Credit card loans(2)
$1,180
 1.86% $1,085
 1.76%$1,698
 2.50% $1,316
 1.96%
Personal loans(3)
$99
 1.34% $81
 1.25%$130
 1.78% $111
 1.51%
Private student loans (excluding PCI loans(1))(4)
$126
 1.80% $86
 1.35%$161
 2.22% $137
 1.94%
              
(1)Excludes PCI loans, which are accounted for on a pooled basis. Since a pool is accounted for as a single asset with a single composite interest rate and aggregate expectation of cash flows, the past-due status of a pool, or that of the individual loans within a pool, is not meaningful. Because we are recognizing interest income on a pool of loans, it is all considered to be performing.
(2)Restructured credit card loans include $66$88 million and $60$74 million at SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016,2017, respectively, thatwhich are also included in loans over 90 or more days delinquent or more.delinquent.
(3)Restructured personal loans include $4 million and $2$5 million at SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016, respectively, that2017, which are also included in loans over 90 or more days delinquent or more.delinquent.
(4)Restructured private student loans include $4$7 million and $3$5 million at SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016, that2017, respectively, which are also included in loans over 90 or more days delinquent or more.delinquent.
The 30-day and 90-day delinquency rates for credit card loans at June 30, 2018 decreased compared to December 31, 2017 primarily due to seasonality. The 30-day and 90-day delinquency rates for personal loans were relatively flat compared to December 31, 2017. The 30-day delinquency rate for private student loans at SeptemberJune 30, 2018 decreased while the 90-day delinquency rate increased compared to December 31, 2017 as a result of seasonality of the portfolio.
The restructured loan balances at June 30, 2018 increased as compared to December 31, 2016 primarily2017 due to seasoning of continued loan growth. The 30-day delinquency rates for private student loans at September 30, 2017 decreased as compared to December 31, 2016 due to seasonality while the 90-day delinquency rate remained relatively flat at September 30, 2017 as compared to December 31, 2016.
The restructured credit card and personal loan balances at September 30, 2017 increased as compared to December 31, 2016 due to loan growth and seasoning. At September 30, 2017, the restructured private student loan balance increased as compared to December 31, 2016 as a result of greater utilization of programs available as more loans have entered into repayment.available.
Modified and Restructured Loans
We have loan modification programs that provide for temporary or permanent hardship relief for our credit card loans to borrowers experiencing financial difficulties. TheWe offer temporary hardship program primarily consistsprograms consisting of an interest rate reduction and in some cases a reduced minimum payment, and an interest rate reduction, both lasting for a period no longer than 12 months. The permanent modification program involves changing the structure of the loan to a fixed payment loan with a maturity no longer than 60 months and reducing the interest rate on the loan. The permanent modification program does not normally provide for the forgiveness of unpaid principal, but may allow for the reversal of certain unpaid interest or fee assessments. We also make permanent loan modifications for customers who request financial assistance through external sources, such as a consumer credit counseling agency program. These loans continue to be subject to the original minimum payment terms and do not normally include waiver of unpaid principal, interest or fees. CreditModified credit card loans includedthat are deemed to meet the definition of troubled debt restructurings ("TDRs") in both temporary and permanent programs are accounted for as troubled debt restructurings. For additional information regarding the accounting treatment for these loans as well as

amounts recorded in the financial statements related to these loans, see Note 3: Loan Receivables to our condensed consolidated financial statements.programs.
For personal loan customers, in certain situations we offer various payment programs, including temporary and permanent programs. The temporary programs normally consist of a reduction of the minimum payment for a period of no

longer than 12 months with the option of a final balloon payment required at the end of the loan term or an extension of the maturity date with the total term not exceeding nine years. Further, in certain circumstances, the interest rate on the loan is reduced. The permanent programs involve changing the terms of the loan in order to pay off the outstanding balance over a longer term and also in certain circumstances reducing the interest rate on the loan. Similar to the temporary programs, the total term may not exceed nine years. We also allow permanent loan modifications for customers who request financial assistance through external sources, similar to our credit card customers discussed above. Payments are modified based on the new terms agreed upon with the credit counseling agency. Personal loans included in temporary and permanent programs are accounted for as troubled debt restructurings.TDRs.
At SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, there was $5.3$5.5 billion of private student loans in repayment, which includes both PCI and non-PCI loans to students who are not in deferment. To assist student loan borrowers who are experiencing temporary financial difficulties but are willing to resume making payments, we may offer hardship forbearance or programs that include payment deferral, temporary payment reduction, temporary interest rate reduction or extended terms. A non-PCI modified loan typically meets the definition of a troubled debt restructuringTDR based on the cumulative length of the concession period and an evaluation of the credit quality of the borrower based on FICO scores. Prior to the third quarter of 2016, only a second forbearance when the borrower was 30 days or greater delinquent was considered a troubled debt restructuring. The balance of student loans being accounted for as troubled debt restructurings has increased since then, although it has not led to significant changes in the balance of overall allowance for loan losses.
Borrower performance after using payment programs or forbearance is monitored and we believe the programs help to prevent defaults and are useful in assisting customers experiencing financial difficulties. We plan to continue to use payment programs and forbearance and, as a result, we expect to have additional loans classified as troubled debt restructuringsTDRs in the future.
For additional information regarding the accounting treatment for these loans as well as amounts recorded in the financial statements related to these loans, see Note 3: Loan Receivables to our condensed consolidated financial statements.
Other Income
The following table presents the components of other income (dollars in millions):
For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2017 vs. 2016
(Decrease) Increase
 For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017 vs. 2016
(Decrease) Increase
For the Three Months Ended June 30, 
2018 vs. 2017
(Decrease) Increase
 For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2018 vs. 2017
Increase (Decrease)
2017 2016 $ % 2017 2016 $ %2018 2017 $ % 2018 2017 $ %
Discount and interchange revenue, net(1)
$258
 $263
 $(5) (2)% $769
 $801
 $(32) (4)%$263
 $278
 $(15) (5)% $517
 $511
 $6
 1 %
Protection products revenue55
 60
 (5) (8)% 169
 180
 (11) (6)%50
 56
 (6) (11)% 103
 114
 (11) (10)%
Loan fee income95
 91
 4
 4 % 267
 250
 17
 7 %95
 83
 12
 14 % 191
 172
 19
 11 %
Transaction processing revenue43
 40
 3
 8 % 124
 115
 9
 8 %42
 42
 
  % 85
 81
 4
 5 %
Gain on investments3
 
 3
 100 % 3
 
 3
 100 %
Other income21
 22
 (1) (5)% 71
 69
 2
 3 %24
 22
 2
 9 % 53
 50
 3
 6 %
Total other income$475
 $476
 $(1)  % $1,403
 $1,415
 $(12) (1)%$474
 $481
 $(7) (1)% $949
 $928
 $21
 2 %
                              
(1)
Net of rewards, including Cashback Bonus rewards, of $417$461 million and $368$388 million for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and 2016,2017, respectively, and of $1.2 billion$853 million and $1.0 billion$751 million of for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and 2016,2017, respectively.
Total other income remained flatdecreased in the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and decreased by $12 millionincreased in the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172018, respectively, as compared to the same periods in 2016.2017. During the ninethree and six months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, the decreasechange was primarily due primarily to higher promotional rewards offset by the increase in discount and interchange revenue both of which were primarily the result ofdriven by higher sales volume. Thevolume, which was more than offset by higher promotional rewards in the second quarter of 2018. In addition, the increase in loan fee income was driven primarily due toby an increase in late fees.

Other Expense
The following table represents the components of other expense (dollars in millions):
For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2017 vs. 2016
Increase (Decrease)
 For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 
2017 vs. 2016
Increase (Decrease)
For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2018 vs. 2017
Increase (Decrease)
 For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2018 vs. 2017
Increase
2017 2016 $ % 2017 2016 $ %2018 2017 $ % 2018 2017 $ %
Employee compensation and benefits$371
 $342
 $29
 8 % $1,101
 $1,027
 $74
 7 %$400
 $367
 $33
 9 % $805
 $730
 $75
 10%
Marketing and business development203
 195
 8
 4 % 563
 555
 8
 1 %224
 192
 32
 17 % 409
 360
 49
 14%
Information processing and communications78
 81
 (3) (4)% 235
 258
 (23) (9)%86
 77
 9
 12 % 168
 157
 11
 7%
Professional fees163
 143
 20
 14 % 466
 453
 13
 3 %161
 156
 5
 3 % 316
 303
 13
 4%
Premises and equipment25
 25
 
  % 73
 72
 1
 1 %24
 23
 1
 4 % 50
 48
 2
 4%
Other expense108
 109
 (1) (1)% 307
 322
 (15) (5)%89
 97
 (8) (8)% 204
 199
 5
 3%
Total other expense$948
 $895
 $53
 6 % $2,745
 $2,687
 $58
 2 %$984
 $912
 $72
 8 % $1,952
 $1,797
 $155
 9%
                              
Total other expense increased in the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017 by $53 million and $58 million,2018, respectively, as compared to the same periods in 2016. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, the2017. The increase was primarily driven by an increase inhigher employee compensation and benefits, and professional fees offset by a decrease in information processingmarketing and communications.business development. The increase in employee compensation and benefits was primarily driven by the impact of addeddue to additional headcount for regulatorybusiness growth and compliance needs andtechnological capabilities, as well as higher average salaries. The increase in professional feesmarketing and business development was driven primarily by investments in technologyhigher brand advertising and infrastructure as well as higher spend in collection efforts in 2017, offset by the completion of a look back project related to anti-money laundering remediation in 2016. The decrease in information processingacquisition costs targeting loan and communications was primarily the result of infrastructure efficiencies.deposit growth.
Income Tax Expense
The following table presents the calculation of the effective income tax rate (dollars in millions, except effective income tax rate):
For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30,For the Three Months Ended June 30, For the Six Months Ended June 30,
2017 2016 2017 20162018 2017 2018 2017
Income before income tax expense$903
 $961
 $2,638
 $2,773
$877
 $867
 $1,733
 $1,735
Income tax expense$301
 $322
 $926
 $943
$208
 $321
 $398
 $625
Effective income tax rate33.3%
33.5%
35.1%
34.0%23.7%
37.1%
23.0%
36.0%
              
Income tax expense decreased $21$113 million and $17$227 million, respectively, for the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017, respectively,2018 as compared to the same periods in 2016.2017. The effective tax raterates decreased 13.4% and 13.0%, respectively, for the three and six months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017 of 33.3% decreased from 33.5% for2018 as compared to the same periodperiods in 20162017. The decrease in rates is primarily due to a reduction in the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate from 35% to 21% offset by other effects of TCJA. For the six months ended June 30, 2018, the effective tax rate was also favorably impacted by the resolution of certain tax matters. The effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 of 35.1% increased from 34.0% for the same period in 2016 primarily due to the settlement with the United States Congress Joint Committee on Taxation ("USCJCT") that occurred in 2016.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Funding and Liquidity
We seek to maintain stable, diversified and cost-effective funding sources and a strong liquidity profile in order to fund our business and repay or refinance our maturing obligations under both normal operating conditions and periods of economic or financial stress. In managing our liquidity risk, we seek to maintain a prudent liability maturity profile and ready access to an ample store of primary and contingent liquidity sources. Our primary funding sources include direct-to-consumer and brokered deposits, public term asset-backed securitizations and other short-term and long-term borrowings. Our primary liquidity sources include a liquidity portfolio comprised of highly liquid, unencumbered assets, including cash and cash equivalents and investment securities, and borrowing capacity through private term asset-backed securitizations. In addition, we have unused borrowing capacity with the Federal Reserve discount window, which provides another source of contingent liquidity.

Funding Sources
Deposits
We offer deposit products to customers through two channels: (i) through direct marketing, internet origination and affinity relationships (“direct-to-consumer deposits”); and (ii) indirectly through contractual arrangements with securities brokerage firms (“brokered deposits”). Direct-to-consumer deposits include certificates of deposit, money market accounts, online savings and checking accounts, and IRA certificates of deposit, while brokered deposits include certificates of deposit and sweep accounts. At SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, we had $38.7$42.3 billion of direct-to-consumer deposits and $17.4$19.4 billion of brokered and other deposits.
Credit Card Securitization Financing
We use the securitization ofsecuritize credit card receivables as a source of funding. We access the asset-backed securitization market using the Discover Card Master Trust I ("DCMT") and the Discover Card Execution Note Trust ("DCENT"), through which we issue DCENT DiscoverSeries notes in both publiclypublic and through private transactions. From time to time, we may add credit card receivables to these trusts to create sufficient funding capacity for future securitizations while managing the seller’s interest. We retain significant exposure to the performance of trust assets through holdings of the seller's interest and subordinated security classes of DCENT.
The securitization structures include certain features designed to protect investors. The primary feature relates to the availability and adequacy of cash flows in the securitized pool of receivables to meet contractual requirements, the insufficiency of which triggers early repayment of the securities. We refer to this as "economic early amortization,"amortization", which is based on excess spread levels. Excess spread is the amount by which income received by a trust during a collection period, including interest collections, fees and interchange, exceeds the fees and expenses of the trust during such collection period, including interest expense, servicing fees and charged-off receivables. In the event of an economic early amortization, which would occur if the excess spread fell below 0% on a three-month rolling average basis, we would be required to repay the affected outstanding securitized borrowings using available collections received by the trust (thetrust; the period of ultimate repayment would be determined by the amount and timing of collections received).received. An early amortization event would negatively impactimpair our liquidity, and may require us to utilize our available non-securitization related contingent liquidity or rely on alternative funding sources, which may or may not be available at the time. As of SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, the DiscoverSeries three-month rolling average excess spread was 13.21%12.61%.
We may elect to add receivables to the restricted pool of receivables, subject to certain requirements. Through our wholly-owned indirect subsidiary, Discover Funding LLC, we are required to maintain a contractual minimum level of receivables in the trust in excess of the face value of outstanding investors’ interests. This excess is referred to as the minimum seller’s interest. The required minimum seller’s interest in the pool of trust receivables, which is included in credit card loan receivables restricted for securitization investors, is set at approximately 7% in excess of the total investors’ interests (which includes interests held by third parties as well as those interests held by us). If the level of receivables in the trust were to fall below the required minimum, we would be required to add receivables from the unrestricted pool of receivables, which would increase the amount of credit card loan receivables restricted for securitization investors. A decline in the amount of the excess seller’s interest could occur if balance repayments and charge-offs exceeded new lending on the securitized accounts or as a result of changes in total outstanding investors’ interests. Seller's interest is impacted by seasonality as higher balance repayments tend to occur in the first calendar year quarter. If we could not add enough receivables to satisfy the minimum seller's interest requirement, an early amortization (or repayment) of investors’ interests would be triggered. No accounts were added to those restricted for securitization investors for the three or ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017.2018.
At SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, we had $16.4$16.0 billion of outstanding public asset-backed securities and $5.1 billion of outstanding subordinated asset-backed securities that had been issued to our wholly-owned subsidiaries.
The following table summarizes expected contractual maturities of the investors’ interests in credit card securitizations, excluding those that have been issued to our wholly-owned subsidiaries (dollars in millions):
At September 30, 2017Total 
Less Than
One Year
 
One Year
Through
Three Years
 
Four Years
Through
Five Years
 
After Five
Years
At June 30, 2018Total 
Less Than
One Year
 
One Year
Through
Three Years
 
Four Years
Through
Five Years
 
After Five
Years
Scheduled maturities of long-term borrowings - owed to credit card securitization investors$16,330
 $4,173
 $8,709
 $2,128
 $1,320
$15,834
 $5,316
 $5,926
 $3,272
 $1,320
                  

The triple-A rating of DCENT Class A Notes issued to date has been based, in part, on an FDIC rule, which created a safe harbor that provides that the FDIC, as conservator or receiver, will not, using its power to disaffirm or repudiate contracts, seek to reclaim or recover assets transferred in connection with a securitization, or recharacterize them as assets of the insured depository institution, provided such transfer satisfies the conditions for sale accounting treatment under previous GAAP. Although the implementation of the Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 860, Transfers and Servicing, no longer qualified certain transfers of assets for sale accounting treatment, the FDIC approved a final rule that preserved the safe-harbor treatment applicable to revolving trusts and master trusts, including DCMT, so long as those trusts would have satisfied the original FDIC safe harbor if evaluated under GAAP pertaining to transfers of financial assets in effect prior to December 1, 2009. Other legislative and regulatory developments may, however, impact our ability and/or desire to issue asset-backed securities in the future.
Other Long-Term Borrowings—Student Loans
At SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, we had $664$533 million of remaining principal balance outstanding on securitized debt assumed as part of theour acquisition of The Student Loan Corporation. Principal and interest payments on the underlying student loans will reduce the balance of these secured borrowings over time.
Other Long-Term Borrowings - Corporate and Bank Debt
The following table provides a summary of Discover Financial Services (Parent Company) and Discover Bank outstanding fixed-rate debt (dollars in millions):
At September 30, 2017Principal Amount Outstanding
At June 30, 2018Principal Amount Outstanding
Discover Financial Services (Parent Company) fixed-rate senior notes, maturing 2019-2027$2,900
$2,900
Discover Financial Services (Parent Company) fixed-rate retail notes, maturing 2017-2031$279
Discover Financial Services (Parent Company) fixed-rate retail notes, maturing 2018-2031$354
Discover Bank fixed-rate senior bank notes, maturing 2018-2026$6,150
$6,200
Discover Bank fixed-rate subordinated bank notes, maturing 2019-2020$700
$700
  
Certain Discover Financial Services senior notes require us to offer to repurchase the notes at a price equal to 101% of their aggregate principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest in the event of a change of control involving us and a corresponding ratings downgrade to below investment grade.
Short-Term Borrowings
As part of our regular funding strategy, we may from time to time borrow short-term funds in the federal funds market or the repurchase (“repo”) market through repurchase agreements. Federal funds are short-term, unsecured loans between banks or other financial entities with a Federal Reserve account. Funds borrowed in the repo market are short-term, collateralized loans, usually secured with highly-rated investment securities such as U.S. Treasury bills or notes, or federal agency mortgage bonds or debentures. At SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016,2017, there were no outstanding balances in the federal funds market or under repurchase agreements.
Additional Funding Sources
Private Asset-Backed Securitizations
We have access to committed undrawn borrowing capacity through privately placed asset-backed securitizations. At SeptemberJune 30, 20172018, we had total committed capacity of $6.0 billion, none of which was drawn. While we may utilize funding from these private securitizations from time to time for normal business operations, their committed nature also makes them a reliable contingency funding source. Therefore, we reserve some undrawn capacity, based uponinformed by our liquidity stress testing results, for potential contingency funding needs. We also seek to ensure the stability and reliability of these securitizations by staggering their maturity dates, and renewing them approximately one year prior to their scheduled maturity dates.dates and periodically drawing them for operational testing purposes.
Federal Reserve
Discover Bank has access to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s discount window. As of SeptemberJune 30, 20172018, Discover Bank had $27.7$30.4 billion of available borrowing capacity through the discount window based on the amount and type

of assets pledged.pledged, primarily consumer loans. We have no borrowings outstanding under the discount window and reserve this capacity as a source of contingency funding.contingent liquidity.
Funding Uses
Our primary uses of funds include the extensions of loans and credit, primarily through Discover Bank, the purchase of investment securities for our liquidity portfolio, working capital, and debt and capital service. We assess funding uses and liquidity needs under stressed and normal operating conditions, considering primary uses of funding, such as on-balance sheet loans, and contingent uses of funding, such as the need to post additional collateral for derivatives positions. In order to anticipate funding needs under stress, we conduct liquidity stress testing to assess the impact of idiosyncratic, market-wide,systemic, and hybrid (idiosyncratic and systemic) scenarios with varying levels of liquidity risk reflecting a range of stress severity.
Credit Ratings
Our borrowing costs and capacity in certain funding markets, including those for securitizations and unsecured senior and subordinated debt, may be affected by the credit ratings of DFS, Discover Bank and the securitization trusts. Downgrades in these credit ratings could result in higher interest expense on our unsecured debt and asset securitizations, as well as higher collateral enhancement requirements for both our public and private asset securitizations. In addition to increased funding costs, deterioration in credit ratings could reduce our borrowing capacity in the unsecured debt and asset securitization capital markets.
We also maintain agreements with certain of our derivative counterparties that contain provisions that require DFS and Discover Bank to maintain an investment grade credit rating from specified major credit rating agencies. At SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, Discover Bank's credit rating met specified thresholds set by its counterparties. However, if Discover Bank'sits credit ratings were reduced by one ratings notch,below investment grade, Discover Bank would be required to post additional collateral, which, as of SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, would have been $34$20 million. DFS (Parent Company) had no outstanding derivatives as of SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, and therefore, no collateral was required.
A credit rating is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities, may be subject to revision or withdrawal at any time by the assigning rating organization, and each rating should be evaluated independently of any other rating. Our credit ratings are summarized in the following table:
 Moody’s Investors Service Standard & Poor’s 
Fitch
Ratings
Discover Financial Services     
Senior unsecured debtBa1 BBB- BBB+
Outlook for Discover Financial Services senior unsecured debtStablePositive Stable Stable
Discover Bank     
Senior unsecured debtBaa3 BBB BBB+
Outlook for Discover Bank senior unsecured debtStablePositive Stable Stable
Subordinated debtBa1 BBB- BBB
Discover Card Execution Note Trust     
Class A(1)
Aaa(sf) AAA(sf) AAA(sf)
      
(1)An “sf” in the rating denotes rating agency identification for structured finance product ratings.
Liquidity
We seek to ensure that we have adequate liquidity to sustain business operations, fund asset growth and satisfy debt obligations under stressed and normal operating conditions. In addition to the funding sources discussed in the previous section, we also maintain highly liquid, unencumbered assets in our liquidity portfolio that we expect to be able to convert to cash quickly and with little loss of value using either the repo market or outright sales.
We maintain a liquidity risk and funding management policy, which outlines the overall framework and general principles forwe follow in managing liquidity risk across our business. The policy is approved by the Board of Directors with the implementation responsibilities delegated to the Asset and Liability Management Committee (the “ALCO”). Additionally, we maintain a liquidity management framework document, which outlines the general strategies, objectives and principles we utilize to manage our liquidity position and the various liquidity risks inherent in our business model. We seek to balance the trade-offs between maintaining too much liquidity, which may be costly, with having too little liquidity, which could cause

financial distress. Liquidity risk is centrally managed by the ALCO, which is chaired by our Treasurer and has cross-functional membership. The ALCO monitors the liquidity risk profiles of DFS and Discover Bank and oversees any

actions Corporate Treasury may take to ensure that we maintain ready access to our funding sources and sufficient liquidity to meet current and projected needs. In addition, the ALCO and our Board of Directors regularly review our compliance with our liquidity limits at DFS and Discover Bank, which are established in accordance with the liquidity risk appetite set by our Board of Directors.
We employ a variety of metrics to monitor and manage liquidity. We utilize early warning indicators (“EWIs”) to detect the initial phases of liquidity stress events and a reporting and escalation process that is designed to be consistent with regulatory guidance. The EWIs include both idiosyncratic and systemic measures, and are monitored on a daily basis and reported to the ALCO regularly. A warning from one or more of these indicators triggers prompt review and decision-making by our senior management team, and in certain instances may lead to the convening of a senior-level response team and activation of our contingency funding plan.
In addition, we conduct liquidity stress testing regularly and ensure contingency funding is in place to address potential liquidity shortfalls. We evaluate a range of stress scenarios that are designed in accordance with regulatory requirements, including idiosyncratic, systemic and a combination of such events that could impact funding sources and our ability to meet liquidity needs. These scenarios measure the projected liquidity position at DFS and Discover Bank across a range of time horizons by comparing estimated contingency funding needs to available contingent liquidity.
Our primary contingent liquidity sources include our liquidity portfolio and private securitizations with unused borrowing capacity. In addition, we have unused borrowing capacity with the Federal Reserve discount window, which we could utilize to satisfy liquidity needs during stressed or normal conditions.provides an additional source of contingent liquidity. We seek to maintain sufficient liquidity to be able to satisfy all maturing obligations and fund business operations for at least 12 months in a severe stress environment. In addition,such an environment, we have unused capacity withmay also take actions to curtail the Federal Reserve discount windowsize of our balance sheet, which provides a source of contingentwould reduce the need for funding and liquidity.
At SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, our liquidity portfolio is comprised of highly liquid, unencumbered assets, including cash and cash equivalents and investment securities. Cash and cash equivalents were primarily in the form of deposits with the Federal Reserve. Investment securities primarily included debt obligations of the U.S. Treasury and residential mortgage-backed securities issued by U.S. government housing agencies or Government Sponsored Enterprises. These investments are considered highly liquid, and we expect to have the ability to raise cash by selling them, utilizing repurchase agreements or pledging certain of these investments to access secured funding. The size and composition of our liquidity portfolio may fluctuate based upon the size of our Statement of Financial Conditionbalance sheet as well as operational requirements and market conditions.
At SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, our liquidity portfolio and undrawn credit facilities were $47.6$52.1 billion, which was $4.8$3.4 billion higher than the balance at December 31, 2016.2017. During the three and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, the average balance of our liquidity portfolio was $14.7$16.5 billion and $15.1$15.8 billion, respectively.
September 30,
2017
 December 31,
2016
June 30,
2018
 December 31,
2017
(dollars in millions)(dollars in millions)
Liquidity portfolio      
Cash and cash equivalents(1)
$12,489
 $11,103
$14,439
 $12,213
Investment securities(2)
1,417
 1,532
1,264
 1,347
Total liquidity portfolio13,906
 12,635
15,703
 13,560
Private asset-backed securitizations(3)
6,000
 6,000
6,000
 6,000
Primary liquidity sources19,906
 18,635
21,703
 19,560
Federal Reserve discount window(3)
27,696
 24,194
30,422
 29,153
Total liquidity portfolio and undrawn credit facilities$47,602
 $42,829
$52,125
 $48,713
      
(1)Cash in the process of settlement and restricted cash are excluded from cash and cash equivalents for liquidity purposes.
(2)
Excludes $32$32 million and $73$48 million of U.S. Treasury securities that have been pledged as swap collateral in lieu of cash as of SeptemberJune 30, 20172018 and December 31, 2016,2017, respectively.
(3)See "— Additional Funding Sources" for additional information.

Bank Holding Company Liquidity
The primary uses of funds at the unconsolidated DFS level include debt service obligations (interest payments and return of principal) and capital service and management activities, which include dividendsdividend payments on capital instruments and the periodic

repurchase of shares of our common stock. Our primary sources of funds at the bank holding company level include the proceeds from the issuance of unsecured debt and capital securities, as well as dividends from our subsidiaries, particularly Discover Bank. Under periods of idiosyncratic or systemic stress, the bank holding company could lose or experience impaired access to the capital markets. In addition, our regulators have the discretion to restrict dividend payments from Discover Bank to the bank holding company.
We utilize a measure referred to as Number of Months of Pre-Funding to determine the length of time Discover Financial Services can meet upcoming funding obligations including common and preferred stock dividend payments and debt service obligations using existing cash resources. At SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, Discover Financial Services had sufficient cash resources to fund the dividend and debt service payments for more than 18 months.
We structure our debt maturity schedule to minimize the amount of debt maturing at the bank holding company within a short period of time. See Note 6: Long-Term Borrowings to our condensed consolidated financial statements for further information regarding our debt. Our ALCO and Board of Directors regularly review our compliance with our liquidity limits as a bank holding company, which are established in accordance with the liquidity risk appetite articulated by our Board.
Capital
Our primary sources of capital are the earnings generated by our businesses and the proceeds from issuances of capital securities. We seek to manage capital to a level and composition sufficient to support the growth and risks of our businesses and to meet regulatory requirements, rating agency targets and debt investor expectations. Within these constraints, we are focused on deploying capital in a manner that provides attractive returns to our stockholders. The level, composition and utilization of capital are influenced by changes in the economic environment, strategic initiatives, and legislative and regulatory developments.
Under regulatory capital requirements adopted by the Federal Reserve and the FDIC, DFS, along with Discover Bank, must maintain minimum levels of capital. Failure to meet minimum capital requirements can result in the initiation of certain mandatory and possibly additional discretionary actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could limit our business activities and have a direct material effect on our financial position and results. We must meet specific capital requirements that involve quantitative measures of assets, liabilities and certain off-balance sheet items, as calculated under regulatory guidance and regulations. Current or future legislative or regulatory initiatives may require us to hold more capital in the future.
In 2013, the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the FDIC issued the Basel III rules applicable to DFS and Discover Bank. Under those rules, DFS and Discover Bank are classified as "Standardized Approach" entities, defined as U.S. banking organizations with consolidated total assets over $50 billion but not exceeding $250 billion and consolidated total on-balance sheet foreign exposures less than $10 billion. Additional phase-in requirements related to components of the final capital rules will become effective through 2019. The Basel III rules include new minimum and "well-capitalized" risk-based capital and leverage ratios, effective January 1, 2015, and refine the definition of what constitutes "capital" for purposes of calculating those ratios of which certain requirements are subject to phase-in periods through the end of 2018 (the "transition period"). During the transition period, the effects of the changes to capital (i.e., certain deductions and adjustments) are recognized in 20% increments from 2015 through 2018. For example, one of the deductions from CET1 capital, goodwill and intangibles, was subject to a 40% of total deduction in 2015 that increased to 60% in 2016 and so on, until reaching 100% deduction of total in 2018. For additional information regarding the risk-based capital and leverage ratios, see Note 10: Capital Adequacy to our condensed consolidated financial statements.
The Basel III rules also introduced a capital conservation bufferCCB on top of the minimum risk-weighted asset ratios. The buffer is designed to absorb losses during periods of economic stress. The calculation of the buffer started to phase in beginning on January 1, 2016 at the rate of 0.625% and increases by 0.625% on each subsequent January 1 until it reaches the maximum 2.5% on January 1, 2019. When the capital conservation bufferCCB is fully phased-in on January 1, 2019, this will effectively result in minimum ratios of (i) CET1 to risk-weighted assets of at least 7.0%, (ii) Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets of at least 8.5% and (iii) Total capital to risk-weighted assets of at least 10.5%. Banking institutions with a capital ratio below the required amount will face constraints on dividends, equity repurchases and compensation based on the amount of the shortfall.

Another main component of the Basel III rules is a prescribed standardized approach for calculating risk-weighted assets that expands the risk-weight range from 0% to 100% (under Basel I) to 0% to 1,250% (under Basel III). The new range is intended to be more risk-sensitive and the risk weight assigned depends on the nature of the asset in question.

The Basel III rules provide for a number of the deductions from and adjustments to CET1, to the extent that any one such category exceeds 10% of CET1 or all such categories in the aggregate exceed 15%.
Basel III also requires disclosures relating to market discipline. This series of disclosures is commonly referred to as “Pillar 3.” The objective is to increase transparency of capital requirements for banking organizations. We are required to make prescribed regulatory disclosures on a quarterly basis regarding our capital structure, capital adequacy, risk exposures and risk-weighted assets. The Pillar 3 disclosures are made publicly available on our website in a report called "Basel III Regulatory Capital Disclosures."
At SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, DFS and Discover Bank met the requirements for "well-capitalized" status under Regulation Y and the prompt corrective action rules, respectively, exceeding the regulatory minimums to which they were subject under the applicable rules.
As discussed in Note 10: Capital Adequacy to our condensed consolidated financial statements, we are subject to a CET1 capital ratio requirement under the Basel III rules. We believe that providing an estimateAt June 30, 2018, there was no difference between our CET1 capital ratio of 11.6% calculated under Basel III transition rules and our CET1 capital position based on theratio calculated under Basel III fully phased-in rules is important to complement the existing capital ratios and for comparability to other financial institutions. In addition, werules. We disclose tangible common equity, which represents common equity less goodwill and intangibles. Management believes that common stockholders' equity excluding goodwill and intangibles is a more meaningful measure to investors of our true net asset value. As of SeptemberJune 30, 2017, the CET1 capital ratio calculated under Basel III fully phased-in rules and2018, tangible common equity areis not formally defined by U.S. GAAP or codified in the federal banking regulations and, as such, they areis considered to be a non-GAAP financial measures.measure. Other financial services companies may also disclose this ratio and metric and definitions may vary, so we advise users of this information to exercise caution in comparing this ratio and metric for different companies.
The following table provides a reconciliation of total common stockholders’ equity (a U.S. GAAP financial measure) to tangible common equity (dollars in millions):
September 30,
2017
 December 31,
2016
June 30,
2018
 December 31,
2017
Total common stockholders’ equity(1)
$10,627
 $10,763
$10,326
 $10,329
Less: Goodwill(255) (255)(255) (255)
Less: Intangible assets, net(163) (166)(162) (163)
Tangible common equity$10,209
 $10,342
$9,909
 $9,911
      
(1)Total common stockholders’ equity is calculated as total stockholders’ equity less preferred stock.
The following table provides a reconciliation of CET1 capital calculated under Basel III transition rules to CET1 capital and risk-weighted assets calculated under fully phased-in Basel III rules (dollars in millions):
 September 30,
2017
Common equity Tier 1 capital (Basel III transition)$10,419
Adjustments related to capital components during transition(1)
(25)
Common equity Tier 1 capital (Basel III fully phased-in)$10,394
  
Risk-weighted assets (Basel III fully phased-in)(2)
$83,303
Common equity Tier 1 capital ratio (Basel III fully phased-in)12.5%
  
(1)Adjustments related to capital components for fully phased-in Basel III include the phase-in of the intangible asset exclusion.
(2)Key differences under fully phased-in Basel III rules in the calculation of risk-weighted assets include higher risk weighting for past-due loans and unfunded commitments.
Additionally, we are required to submit an annual capital plan to the Federal Reserve that includes an assessment of our expected uses and sources of capital over a nine-quarter planning horizon. We submitted our annual capital plan to the Federal Reserve under the Federal Reserve’sits CCAR program and received notice in June 20172018 that the Federal Reserve does not object to our proposed capital plan, including planned quarterly capital distributions through June 30, 2018.2019. Our ability to make capital distributions, including our ability to pay dividends on or repurchase shares of our common stock, will continue to be subject to the Federal Reserve’s review and non-objection of the actions that we propose each year in our annual capital plan.

Also inIn June 2017,2018, the Federal Reserve published the results of its annual supervisory stress tests for bank holding companies with $50 billion or more in total consolidated assets, including DFS. At that same time, we published company-run stress test results for DFS and Discover Bank. DFS is required to publish company-run stress tests results twice each year in accordance with Federal Reserve rules and Discover Bank is required to publish bank-run stress test results under FDIC rules.
We recently declared a quarterly cash dividend on our common stock of $0.35$0.40 per share, payable on December 7, 2017September 6, 2018 to holders of record on November 22, 2017,August 23, 2018, which is consistent withan increase from $0.35 per share paid in each of the last quarter.four quarters. We also recently declared a quarterlysemi-annual cash dividend on our preferred stock of $16.25$2,750 per share, equal to $0.40625$27.50 per depositary share, payable on December 1, 2017,October 30, 2018 to holders of record on November 14, 2017,October 15, 2018, which was the same asis consistent with the amount paid on our preferred stock in the prior quarter.second quarter of 2018.

On July 25, 2017,19, 2018, our Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program authorizing the repurchase of up to $2.8$3.0 billion of our outstanding shares of common stock. The program expires on OctoberJanuary 31, 20182020 and may be terminated at any time. This program replaced the prior $2.5$2.8 billion share repurchase program, which had $562$671 million of remaining authorization. During the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017,2018, we repurchased approximately 98 million shares, or 2%, of our outstanding common stock for $555 million. We expect to continue to make share repurchasesrepurchase shares under our repurchase program from time to time based on market conditions and other factors, subject to legal and regulatory requirements and restrictions, including approvalnon-objection from the Federal Reserve as described above. Share repurchases under the program may be made through a variety of methods, including open market purchases, privately negotiated transactions or other purchases, including block trades, accelerated share repurchase transactions, or any combination of such methods.
The amount and size of any future dividends and share repurchases will depend upon our results of operations, financial condition, capital levels, cash requirements, future prospects and other factors. The declaration and payment of future dividends, as well as the amount thereof, are subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors. Holders of our shares of common stock are subject to the prior dividend rights of holders of our preferred stock or the depositary shares representing such preferred stock outstanding, and if full dividends have not been declared and paid on all outstanding shares of preferred stock in any dividend period, no dividend may be declared or paid or set aside for payment on our common stock. In addition, as noted above, banking laws and regulations and our banking regulators may limit our ability to pay dividends and make share repurchases, including limitations on the extent to which our banking subsidiaries can provide funds to us through dividends, loans or otherwise. Further, also noted above, current or future regulatory initiatives may require us to hold more capital in the future. There can be no assurance that we will declare and pay any dividends or repurchase any shares of our common stock in the future.
Certain Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
Guarantees
Guarantees are contracts or indemnification agreements that contingently require us to make payments to a guaranteed party based on changes in an underlying asset, liability, or equity security of a guaranteed party, rate or index. Also included in guarantees are contracts that contingently require the guarantor to make payments to a guaranteed party based on another entity’s failure to perform under an agreement. Our guarantees relate to transactions processed on the Discover Network and certain transactions processed by PULSE and Diners Club. See Note 11: Commitments, Contingencies and Guarantees to our condensed consolidated financial statements for further discussion regarding our guarantees.
Contractual Obligations and Contingent Liabilities and Commitments
In the normal course of business, we enter into various contractual obligations that may require future cash payments. Contractual obligations at SeptemberJune 30, 20172018, which include deposits, long-term borrowings, operating and capital lease obligations, interest payments on fixed-rate debt, purchase obligations and other liabilities were $86.791.6 billion. For a description of our contractual obligations, see our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 20162017 under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Contractual Obligations and Contingent Liabilities and Commitments.”
We extend credit for consumer loans, primarily arising from agreements with customers for unused lines of credit on certain credit cards and certain other loan products, provided there is no violation of conditions established in the related agreement. At SeptemberJune 30, 20172018, our unused commitmentscredit arrangements were approximately $188.3194.3 billion. These commitments,arrangements, substantially all of which we can terminate at any time and which do not necessarily represent future cash requirements, are periodically reviewed based on account usage, customer creditworthiness and loan qualification. In addition, in the ordinary course of business, we guarantee

payment on behalf of subsidiaries relating to contractual obligations with external parties. The activities of the subsidiaries covered by any such guarantees are included in our condensed consolidated financial statements.
Item 3.Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Market risk refers to the risk that a change in the level of one or more market prices, rates, indices, correlations or other market factors will result in losses for a position or portfolio. We are exposed to market risk primarily from changes in interest rates.

Interest Rate Risk
We borrow money from a variety of depositors and institutions in order to provide loans to our customers, as well as invest in other assets and our business. These loans and other assets earn interest, which we use to pay interest on the money borrowed. Our net interest income and, therefore, earnings, will be reduced if the interest rate earned on assets increases at a slower pace than increases to the interest rate we owe on our borrowings. Changes in interest rates and competitorour competitors' responses to those changes may influence customer payment rates, loan balances or deposit account activity. WeAs a result, we may incur higher funding costs, as a result, which has the potential to decrease earnings.
Our interest rate risk management policies are designed to measure and manage the potential volatility of earnings that may arise from changes in interest rates by having a financing portfolio that reflects theour mix of variablevariable- and fixed-rate assets. To the extent that asset and related financingthe repricing characteristics of the assets and liabilities in a particular portfolio are not sufficiently matched, effectively, we may utilize interest rate derivative contracts, such as swap agreements, to achieve our objectives. Interest rate swap agreements effectively convert the underlying asset or liability from fixed- to floating-rate or from floating- to fixed-rate. See Note 14: Derivatives and Hedging Activities to our condensed consolidated financial statements for information on our derivatives activity.
We use an interest rate sensitivity simulation to assess our interest rate risk exposure. For purposes of presenting the possible earnings effect of a hypothetical, adverse change in interest rates over the 12-month period from our reporting date, we assume that all interest rate sensitive assets and liabilities will be impacted by a hypothetical, immediate 100 basis point increasechange in interest rates relative to market consensus expectations as of the beginning of the period. The sensitivity is based upon the hypothetical assumption that all relevant types of interest rates that affect our results would increasechange instantaneously, simultaneously and to the same degree.
Our interest rate sensitive assets include our variable ratevariable-rate loan receivables and the assets that make up our liquidity portfolio. We have restrictionslimitations on our ability to mitigate interest rate risk by adjusting rates on existing balances and competitive actions may restrictlimit our ability to increase the rates that we charge to customers for new loans. At SeptemberJune 30, 20172018, the majority of our credit card and student loans were atcharge variable rates. Assets with rates that are fixed at period end but which will mature, or otherwise contractually reset to a market-based indexed rate or other fixed rate prior to the end of the 12-month period, are considered to be rate sensitive. The latter category includes certain revolving credit card loans that may be offered at below-market rates for an introductory period, such as balance transfers and special promotional programs, after which the loans will contractually reprice in accordance with our normal market-based pricing structure. For purposes of measuring rate sensitivity for such loans, only the effect of the hypothetical 100 basis point increase in the underlying market-based indexed rate has been considered. For assets that have a fixed interest rate but which contractually will, or are assumed to, reset to a market-based indexed rate or other fixed rate during the next 12 months, earnings sensitivity is measured from the expected repricing date. In addition, for all interest rate sensitive assets, earnings sensitivity is calculated net of expected loan losses, which for purposes of this analysis are assumed to remain unchanged relative to our baseline expectations over the analysis horizon.
Interest rate sensitive liabilities are assumed to be those for which the stated interest rate is not contractually fixed for the next 12-month period. Thus, liabilities that vary with changes in a market-based index, such as the federal funds rate or LIBOR, which will reset before the end of the 12-month period, or liabilities whose rates are fixed at the fiscal period end, but which will mature and are assumed to be replaced with a market-based indexed rate prior to the end of the 12-month period, also are considered to be rate sensitive. For these fixed-rate liabilities, earnings sensitivity is measured from the expected maturity date.
Net interest income sensitivity requires assumptions to be made regarding market conditions, consumer behavior, and the overall growth and composition of the balance sheet. These assumptions are inherently uncertain and, as a result, actual earnings may differ from the simulated earnings presented above. Our actual earnings depend on multiple factors including,

but not limited to, the direction and timing of changes in interest rates, the movement of short-term versus long-term rates, balance sheet design,composition, competitor actions which may affectaffecting pricing decisions in our loans and deposits, and strategic actions undertaken by management.

Assuming an immediate 100 basis point increase in the interest rates affecting all interest rate sensitive assets and liabilities at September 30, 2017, we estimate that net interest income over the following 12-month period would increase by approximately $211 million, or 3%. Assuming an immediate 100 basis point increase in the interest rates affecting all interest rate sensitive assets and liabilities at December 31, 2016, we estimated that net interest income over the following 12-month period would increase by approximately $201 million, or 3%. Should an immediate 100 basis point interest rate decrease occur, we estimate that the impact would be approximately the inverse of the result of an immediate 100 basis point increase. However, at current interest rates there is a higher level of uncertainty in the assumptions used to derive this estimate because a decline of that magnitude would result in a near zero interest rate environment.
The following table shows the impacts to net interest income over the following 12-month period that we estimate would result from an immediate and parallel change in interest rates affecting all interest rate sensitive assets and liabilities (dollars in millions).
 At June 30, 2018 At December 31, 2017
Basis point change$ % $ %
+100$205
 2.22 % $179
 2.03 %
-100$(215) (2.32)% $(190) (2.15)%
        
Item 4.Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), which are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified by the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of the end of the period covered by this report.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) that occurred during the period covered by this report that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Part II.OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1.Legal Proceedings
For a description of legal proceedings, see Note 12: Litigation and Regulatory Matters to our condensed consolidated financial statements.
Item 1A.Risk Factors
There have been no material changes to the risk factors disclosed in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016.2017.
Item 2.Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
The table below sets forth information regarding purchases of our common stock related to our share repurchase program and employee transactions that were made by us or on our behalf during the most recent quarter.
The following table sets forth information regarding purchases of our common stock related to our share repurchase program and employee transactions that were made by us or on our behalf during the most recent quarter.The following table sets forth information regarding purchases of our common stock related to our share repurchase program and employee transactions that were made by us or on our behalf during the most recent quarter.
PeriodTotal Number of Shares Purchased Average Price Paid Per Share 
Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plan or Program(1)
 
Maximum Dollar Value of Shares that may yet be purchased under the Plans or Programs (1)
Total Number of Shares Purchased Average Price Paid Per Share 
Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plan or Program(1)
 
Maximum Dollar Value of Shares that may yet be purchased under the Plans or Programs (1)
July 1 - 31, 2017       
April 1 - 30, 2018       
Repurchase program(1)
2,983,406
 $61.77
 2,983,406
 $2,707,083,123
2,561,652
 $71.74
 2,561,652
 $1,042,595,923
Employee transactions(2)
1,562
 $62.19
 N/A
 N/A

 $
 N/A
 N/A
August 1 - 31, 2017       
May 1 - 31, 2018       
Repurchase program(1)
3,252,466
 $60.53
 3,252,466
 $2,510,212,170
2,594,328
 $74.28
 2,594,328
 $849,885,846
Employee transactions(2)
1,911
 $60.61
 N/A
 N/A
3,063
 $73.39
 N/A
 N/A
September 1 - 30, 2017       
June 1 - 30, 2018       
Repurchase program(1)
2,914,936
 $59.64
 2,914,936
 $2,336,369,727
2,403,993
 $74.26
 2,403,993
 $671,370,188
Employee transactions(2)

 $
 N/A
 N/A
414
 $76.19
 N/A
 N/A
              
Total              
Repurchase program(1)
9,150,808
 $60.65
 9,150,808
 $2,336,369,727
7,559,973
 $73.41
 7,559,973
 $671,370,188
Employee transactions(2)
3,473
 $61.32
 N/A
 N/A
3,477
 $73.73
 N/A
 N/A
              
(1)On July 25, 2017,19, 2018, our board of directors approved a share repurchase program authorizing the purchase of up to $2.8$3.0 billion of our outstanding shares of common stock. This share repurchase program expires on OctoberJanuary 31, 20182020 and may be terminated at any time.
(2)Reflects shares withheld (under the terms of grants under employee stock compensation plans) to offset tax withholding obligations that occur upon the delivery of outstanding shares underlying restricted stock units or upon the exercise of stock options.
Item 3.Defaults Upon Senior Securities
None.
Item 4.Mine Safety Disclosures
None.
Item 5.Other Information
None.
Item 6.Exhibits
See "Exhibit Index" for documents filed herewith and incorporated herein by reference.

Signature
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
Discover Financial Services
(Registrant)
By:
/s/ R. MARK GRAF
R. Mark Graf
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Date: November 2, 2017

Exhibit Index
Exhibit
Number
 Description
   
 Statement regarding computation of ratio of earnings to fixed charges and computation of ratio of earnings to fixed charges and preferred stock dividends.
   
 Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
   
 Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
   
 Certification of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 1350 of Chapter 63 of Title 18 of the United States Code.
   
101.INS XBRL Instance Document.
   
101.SCH XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document.
   
101.CAL XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document.
   
101.DEF XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document.
   
101.LAB XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document.
   
101.PRE XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document.

Signature
73Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
Discover Financial Services
(Registrant)
By:
/s/ R. MARK GRAF
R. Mark Graf
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Date: August 1, 2018

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