Mortgage lender · Greenwood, DE · LEI X05BVSK68TQ7YTOSNR22

Discover Bank review: approval odds, rates and grade (2025)

Discover Bank earns an F, in the bottom tier of large mortgage lenders. It turned down 79.1% of the applications it decided on in 2025, which ranks in the 0th percentile for approval odds. Its median loan was priced 2.11 points above the average prime offer rate, ranking in the 8th percentile on pricing. Compared against 101 large mortgage lenders using 2025 HMDA filings.

69kApplications2025
14.1%Originatedof applications
79.1%Decision denial ratenational 22.6%
8.68%Median ratenational 6.63%
$887MLoan volume53 states

Discover Bank at a glance, 2025

Every figure is from the lender's own HMDA filing. "vs national" compares with all lenders combined.

55.0%Denial rate (all applications)+37.04 pts vs national
79.1%Denial rate (decided applications)+56.52 pts vs national
14.1%Origination rate-43.95 pts vs national
8.2%Withdrawn by applicant
22.3%Closed for incompleteness
8.68%Median interest rate+2.05 pts vs national
2.11Median rate spread (pts over APOR)+1.86 pts vs national
$65,000Median loan amount
Median total loan costs
$110kMedian applicant income
66%Median loan-to-value
0High-cost (HOEPA) loans

How the F grade breaks down

Each component is a percentile rank among 101 large mortgage lenders. Higher is better. Components the lender does not report are left out and the weights redistributed.

Approval oddsdecision denial rate, weight 45%

0th79.1% denied

Pricingmedian rate spread over APOR, weight 30%

8th2.11 pts

Processwithdrawn + incomplete share, weight 15%

20th30.5%

Trend, 2023–2025

YearApplicationsOriginatedDenial rateDecision denialMedian rateVolume
2023219,68930,82947.0%76.6%9.24%$2.8B
2024216,14634,69452.1%76.0%8.86%$3.1B
202568,9749,71155.0%79.1%8.68%$887M

What Discover Bank lends

Applications by purpose and loan type in 2025, with the denial rate for each. A lender's mix explains a lot of its headline rate: HELOCs and FHA loans are denied far more often than conventional purchase loans.

By loan purpose

Home purchase 3,970 6% · 53.6% denied
Refinance 11,631 17% · 53.7% denied
Home improvement 18,720 27% · 48.5% denied
Other / HELOC 34,653 50% · 59.1% denied

By loan type

Conventional 68,974 100% · 55.0% denied

Also: 0 home-equity lines, 0 reverse mortgages, 85 manufactured homes, 135 investment properties.

Why Discover Bank denies applications

Primary reason reported for each of the 37,947 denials in 2025. Lenders can cite up to four reasons; this is the first one listed.

Credit history 17,436 46%
Debt-to-income ratio 6,678 18%
Incomplete application 5,616 15%
Collateral 4,159 11%
Other 3,598 9%
Unverifiable information 321 1%
Employment history 139 0%

How these reasons compare nationally →

Who gets approved at Discover Bank

Decision denial rate by applicant profile. Groups with fewer than 20 applications are omitted.

Applicant incomeApplicationsOriginatedDecision denial rate
Under $50k7,65941492.5%
$50k – $100k21,8682,69281.7%
$100k – $150k17,2432,78676.1%
$150k – $250k14,7882,75772.1%
Over $250k6,75884879.6%
Applicant ageApplicationsOriginatedDecision denial rate
Under 256431796.7%
25–347,67179385.3%
35–4416,9192,58477.8%
45–5417,9252,97676.0%
55–6414,0142,04578.0%
65–748,4491,00181.1%
Over 743,35329584.6%

Where Discover Bank lends

53 states and 2,477 counties in 2025. Click a state for the lender's full record there.

StateApplicationsOriginatedDenial rateMedian rateRank in state
Florida6,87977156.1%8.62%#32
Texas6,12464963.3%8.44%#28
California5,82981354.3%8.58%#36
New York3,89446757.3%8.65%#22
New Jersey3,27445152.7%8.52%#20
Illinois3,12049353.2%8.87%#29
Georgia3,08746655.6%8.75%#35
Pennsylvania2,83139252.8%8.61%#40
Ohio2,54439754.3%8.94%#40
North Carolina2,31131354.1%8.68%#43
Virginia2,03831752.4%8.83%#41
Arizona1,79130553.6%8.62%#42
Michigan1,76421956.0%8.91%#50
Indiana1,62928253.3%8.95%#51
Tennessee1,62529051.7%8.53%#46
Massachusetts1,37918153.7%8.70%#36
Colorado1,36625648.5%8.68%#47
Missouri1,31221453.4%8.66%#40
South Carolina1,26820454.4%8.77%#46
Washington1,17617155.1%8.58%#56
Connecticut99712751.0%8.60%#34
Nevada99615754.4%8.73%#32
Minnesota97716348.0%9.10%#47
Alabama88112955.9%8.87%#51
Wisconsin84414053.6%8.88%#61
Oregon79712850.8%8.97%#54
Oklahoma77712656.9%8.95%#44
Kentucky75211055.1%8.77%#58
Louisiana6948461.2%8.93%#44
Utah6219151.9%8.61%#52
Arkansas56210955.3%8.60%#45
Kansas55410252.2%8.77%#48
Mississippi4195162.3%8.83%#47
Delaware4157653.0%8.65%#32
New Hampshire3955352.9%8.47%#41
Nebraska3877245.7%8.77%#45
New Mexico3565254.2%8.74%#52
Idaho3504557.4%8.80%#63
West Virginia3405054.7%8.93%#37
Maine2864052.1%8.50%#55
Rhode Island2812455.5%8.97%#37
Montana2323752.2%8.43%#43
Hawaii1771363.3%8.95%#32
Wyoming1622657.4%9.16%#41
South Dakota1332154.9%8.95%#48
Alaska1071457.0%9.00%#41
North Dakota104858.7%10.60%#46
Vermont91956.0%8.47%#48
District of Columbia40360.0%9.00%#85

Frequently asked questions

Discover Bank denied 79.1% of the applications it decided on in 2025. The national figure across all lenders was 22.6%. On approval odds it ranks in the 0th percentile of large mortgage lenders.

The most common reason Discover Bank gave in 2025 was "credit history", cited on 45.9% of its denials. Lenders report up to four reasons per denial to the CFPB; the full breakdown is on this page.

The median interest rate on loans Discover Bank originated in 2025 was 8.68%, and its median rate spread over the average prime offer rate was 2.11 points. Rates on this page are what borrowers actually got, not advertised rates.

In 2025, 6% of its applications were for home purchases, 17% for refinancing (including cash-out), and 77% for home improvement or other purposes. By loan type: 100% conventional, 0% FHA, 0% VA.

Every figure on this page comes from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Loan/Application Register published by the CFPB, which lenders are required by federal law to file. We add the grade and the comparisons; we do not add facts.

About this data. HMDA data is published once a year by the CFPB. The current release covers applications acted on in calendar year 2025. Figures describe applications the lender acted on, including loans it later sold. Interest rates and costs are medians on originated loans only; some depository institutions are exempt from reporting pricing fields, which is why a few cells read "—". MortgageGrades is not affiliated with Discover Bank. Data sources · Methodology