Credit card network Discover Financial Services announced a partnership this week with financial technology company Airwallex that will let consumers use their Discover-issued cards at more merchants in Europe and Asia.

Merchants that work with Airwallex in Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong will be able to accept Discover and Diners Club International cards as a result of the deal, which was announced Monday in a news release. Airwallex also works with merchants throughout Europe, the release said.

The announcement comes during a time of uncertainty for Riverwoods, Illinois-based Discover. The fate of its proposed sale to McLean, Virginia-based bank and card issuer Capital One Financial remains in limbo due to pending regulatory reviews.  

In the meantime, the partnership with Singapore-based Airwallex, which offers cross-border payments, payroll services and corporate cards, should expand Discover's reach.

Airwallex's global infrastructure caters to 150,000 businesses and Discover's card network supports 345 million cardholders across the globe, the news release said.

The Discover-Airwallex partnership is a sign of “increased competition for payment networks in both developed and emerging markets,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Daniel Perlin wrote in a note to investors Tuesday.

Giving customers more payment options at checkout should help reduce cart abandonment, which occurs when a potential customer browses a company’s website but fails to complete a purchase, the news release said.

“We are providing merchants with more choices to meet their customers’ preferences,” Kai Wu, chief revenue officer for Airwallex, said in the release.

Discover's proposed merger with Capital One is still being scrutinized by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, part of the Treasury Department; the Federal Reserve Board of Governors; and the Department of Justice antitrust staff.

Last month, Discover extended the timeframe in which it expects to complete the merger from February to May 19.