Discover It Cash Back Credit Card Review

Start earning cash back while laying the foundation for your credit history. The Discover It card has no annual fee and earns 5% on rotating quarterly categories.

Discover it® Cash Back

• Annual fee: $0

• Welcome offer: Discover Cashback Match will automatically match all your cash back earned the first 12 months of having the card

• Earn 5% on rotating categories each quarter you activate, on up to $1,500 in combined category purchases per quarter

• Earn 1% on all other purchases

Card Benefits

In my experience, Discover has great customer service compared to competing credit issuers. The card comes with a handful of standard benefits:

• Free social security number alerts

• Freeze it - freeze your account with one-click

• $0 Fraud liability on unauthorized purchases

• Free overnight card delivery by request

The Discover It credit card use to be one of the best starter credit cards, but a lot has changed since we first reviewed the card in 2017.

In 2018, Discover cards were stripped of their auxiliary benefits like extended warranty, price match, price protection, and rental car collision damage waiver.

I don’t recommend using the card on electronic or travel purchases since it doesn’t offer any protection.

Cashback Match

Discover will automatically double the cash back earned at the end of first cardmember year through the Cashback Match program.

For example, if you earn 5% on a qualifying category purchase, it will effectively be 10% with Cashback Match at the end of your cardmember year.

All other purchases that earn 1% will effectively be 2% with Cashback Match.

Cashback Match in the first year of card membership makes the Discover It a strong daily driver.

Who Should Get the Discover It

For those who are just starting with building the foundation for their credit history, the Discover It card is a strong daily driver. It’s important to note that the card earns strictly cash back, so you won’t be able to redeem the points for travel or transfer them out.

In the first year, cardholders can enjoy Cashback Match which automatically doubles the cash back you earn in the first 12 months of account opening.

For people who have a solid credit history foundation, the Discover It is a good addition for the Cashback Match if you’re looking to optimize for cash back.

People who are looking to maximize for cash back and don’t mind keeping track of 5% quarterly categories should consider adding the Discover It.

Discover It 5% Cash Back Calendar

Earn 5% on select rotating categories, on up to $1,500 in combined category purchases per quarter. As a reminder, you must activate the benefit each quarter to qualify for the increased cash back.

Discover It 5% Cash Back Categories
Q1 2019 January - March	- Grocery Stores
Q2 2019 April - June	- Gas Stations - Uber - Lyft
Q3 2019 July - September	- Restaurants - PayPal
Q4 2019 October - December	- Amazon.com - Target -Walmart.com