The all-stock deal, first announced over a year ago, would give Capital One a major leg up against competing credit card-issuing banks such as JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ), Bank of America ( BAC) and Citigroup ( C ), which don’t process transactions themselves.

Capital One's planned $35.3 billion acquisition of a rival credit card company, Discover, was approved by two regulators, Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, on Friday.

Capital One Financial’s application to acquire Discover Financial Services in a $35.3 billion all-stock deal has officially been approved by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency,