Discover To Layoff 460 Employees As It Exits Mortgage Origination Business

Discover Financial Services said it will layoff about 460 employees, primarily in Irvine, Calif., and Louisville, as its closes the mortgage origination business it acquired in 2012. The payment services and direct banking company said it expects to record a charge of 4 cents a share related to exiting the business. "The business is not projected to meet our financial expectations due to ongoing challenges to our home loans operating model, so we made the difficult decision to exit," said Carlos Minetti, president of Discover's consumer banking business. The company said it would continue to originate home equity loans through Discover Bank. Discover got into the mortgage origination business by purchasing the operating and related assets of Tree.com subsidiary Home Loan Center for about $55.9 million. The company launched its Discover Home Loans business in June 2012.