Discover credit card offers
Discover is known for its 100% USA-based customer service, often receiving top marks on surveys by consumer groups. All cards in Discover’s portfolio offer rewards in the form of cash back or miles. Some cash-back cardholders have the potential to earn even more thanks to revolving quarterly categories that provide 5% cash back on categories that range from gas to restaurants and much more (up to $1,500 spent quarterly and activation is required). And, thanks to Discover’s Cashback Match program, eligible new cardholders can earn a match on all the rewards they earn during their first year as a cardholder.
Although it’s known for credit cards, Discover is also a bank. Or if you prefer, an all-services financial company. If you go to Discover.com, you’ll quickly discover that you can get credit cards, do online banking, apply for student loans, personal loans and home loans.
In some ways, Discover is fairly new and doesn’t have a storied history, though if you want and look through at the bank through a narrow prism, you can go back a long way to its origins.
Sears actually created Discover in 1985, but Sears, of course, has been around for a long time. It was founded in 1893. Also in 1985, Discover purchased The Greenworld Trust Company, a financial institution that was founded in 1911.
Still, for all practical purposes, Discover has been on the map since 1985. Compared to other banks, Discover is a toddler.
Fun fact about Discover: Granted, this isn’t the trudge through the blizzard to get my money story, but it’s worth noting that if you like to find credit cards without an annual fee, you can sort of thank Discover for that, even if you don’t have a Discover credit card.
When it first came on the scene, Discover didn’t have annual fees – and it offered a larger credit limit than its competitors. So suddenly consumers were quite interested in Discover, and competing credit issuers started, on some and then many cards, scrapping their annual fee.
To this day, Discover credit cards don’t have annual fees.
Sometimes, annual fees are completely worth it. If the rewards are incredible, you can easily justify spending the annual fee. But thanks to Discover, these days, if you’re asking people to apply for a credit card that includes an annual fee, you need to demonstrate to a skeptical consumer that it’s worth paying for.
CardRatings has named several Discover credit cards to its best credit cards of 2023 lists, including:
- CardNamediscontinued – Best Discover Card for Cash Back
- CardNamediscontinued – Best Discover Card for Travel
- CardNamediscontinued – Best Discover Card for Students
What are Discover Credit Card Benefits?
A lot of the perks, which are increasingly becoming common on other credit cards, such as extended warranties and travel accident insurance, are not to be found with Discover. But there are still some good reasons, beyond rewards and welcome offers, to get a Discover credit card. A few standouts include…
No annual fees. As you know, unless you skimmed the above and just landed here, not one Discover credit card has an annual fee. They do not exist at Discover. That’s a big reason to pay attention to the card.
No foreign transaction fees. No Discover card has these either. If you travel internationally, whether it’s Discover or another credit card, you should take a credit card that doesn’t have a foreign transaction fee. Your trip will be cheaper.
No over the limit fees. That’s another big reason to consider Discover.
Freeze It. Discover makes a big deal about how it protects consumers from fraud, and that you’re never responsible for unauthorized purchases made on your Discover card. Which is great – but generally, that’s the case for all credit cards. They’re all pretty excellent about making sure people aren’t stuck with the bill if a criminal gets hold of a credit card. That said, Discover’s Freeze It is a helpful feature that should make cardholders feel secure. You can freeze your account whenever you want, within seconds, on Discover’s mobile app or website, to prevent new purchases on your account.
Is It Hard to Qualify for a Discover Card?
You’re asking the question because you want to know if Discover is going to say yes – or no. Suddenly, you’re back in your eighth-grade gym, and the music of your youth is playing, and you’re looking at the special someone and wondering if you should ask, “May I have this dance?”
Unfortunately, there’s no way to say whether this Discover card that you’re interested in is going to be glad you came a-calling, or if you’re going to get a rejection letter that basically says, “Let’s remain friends – who never communicate with each other.”
It all comes down to your charm and personality – well, actually, okay, none of that. It all comes down to your credit score. If it’s an attractive credit score, Discover is going to happily go out on the floor with you, and if it’s not so hot, Discover may take a polite pass.
That said, if Discover takes a pass, you may want to apply for its CardNamediscontinued. You’ll have to put down a refundable security deposit, but at least you will be able to have that dance.
What Is the Best Discover Credit Card?
If you’ve been searching high and low for the best Discover credit cards, your days and nights of exploration is over. We’ll offer them up, right here.
Best Discover Credit Card for Cash Back
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The first thing you’ll notice is the generous unlimited cashback match offer for new cardholders. Whatever you earn the first year of your account, Discover will automatically match it at the end of your first year.
This means, if you earn $200 in cash back your first year, Discover will match another $200 at the end of the year.
So how do you get cash back in the first place? It plays out this way:
You’ll receive 5% cash back each quarter when you activate (up to $1,500 spent) on rotating categories such as Amazon.com, supermarkets, gas stations, restaurants and so on.
On everything else, and once you’ve hit the spending cap, you’ll get an unlimited 1% cash back.
There is no annual fee, but as we’ve noted before, no Discover credit card has an annual fee.
Best Discover Travel Credit Card
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Travel these days is often busy and, let’s not mince words, expensive. That’s where CardName comes in.
For starters, there’s the unlimited bonus. Where some other Discover credit cards will do cash-back matches, this one matches the miles you earn your first year.
Plus, for every $1 you spend, you’ll earn 1.5x miles.
If you’re looking for a no-frills travel card, the flat rate of rewards makes this card one of the simplest to manage. if you’re planning to travel abroad, however, you might want to check beforehand whether Discover cards are frequently accepted in the area you’re traveling too. One other downfall is that this card doesn’t include a lot of the travel benefits you’ll get with other travel rewards cards.
Still overall, yes, this is a solid credit card for travel – international, too. There’s no foreign transaction fee. Or, as duly noted, no annual fee. And the simplicity of rewards earning makes it ideal for the person who just wants to offset some of their trip, but isn’t interested in lots of hoops or complicated reward structures.
Best Discover Student Credit Card
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This is one of the best student credit cards out there (CardName is also a winner). For starters, a lot of student credit cards don’t offer much in the way of rewards, but this one does. You’ll get an unlimited cashback match offer your first year. So let’s say at the end of your first year, you’ve earned $212 in cash back. Well, Discover will match it with another $212.
So how do you get that cash back in the first place? Whip out your card at gas stations and restaurants, and you’ll earn 2% cash back on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter. On anything else you use your card for, as well as after hitting that cap, you’ll earn 1% cash back.
Along with no annual fee, you’ll enjoy a 0% intro APR on purchases for the first six months, then RegAPR. So if you carry some debt from month to month – during those first six months – you won’t be charged interest. Still, get in the habit of paying off your debt in full every month. Carrying revolving debt is an expensive way to live.
