The Discover it® Cash Back Credit Card provides 5% cash back on the first $1,500 in purchases made each quarter in certain categories. These categories rotate every three months and Discover requires you to actively enroll to earn the bonus. The card earns 1% cash back on all other purchases and doesn’t charge an annual fee. While there’s no traditional sign-up bonus, Discover will match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year.

One thing to note is this card does require some monitoring. A cardholder will need to keep track of the categories each quarter and proactively sign-up to earn the bonus rewards.

Who is this card for?

The Discover it® Cash Back Credit Card is perfect for someone who’s thinking about opening their first credit card and just wants to earn cash back. Even if you’re not a newbie, this card can be a fine piece in your overall credit card strategy. I wouldn’t rely on it as your primary card, however.

The issue is that there’ll inevitably be quarters where the bonus categories don’t match up with your personal spending habits. You don’t want to use this card if you’re not spending in the bonus categories because you can get way more than 1% back using other cards.

Card Features

Bonus Offer

Discover provides an unlimited dollar-for-dollar match of all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year. This occurs within two billing periods at completing 12 billing periods or 365 days, whichever is longer. 

Annual Fee

This card has no annual fee.

Earning Rates

The Discover it® Card earns 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases at merchants in the card’s quarterly bonus categories. The bonus categories are usually customer-friendly, with gas stations, grocery stores, and Amazon.com showing up every year. Below is the 2023 bonus categories calendar.

Because of the $1,500 quarterly spending cap, the maximum amount of cash back that can be earned each quarter is $75 ($1,500 in purchases at 5% cash back).

Redeeming Points

Discover makes it easy to redeem the cash back you’ve earned. There are several options and all but the last one allows you to redeem for as little as one cent. The choices include:

• A statement credit to your account
• Electronic deposit to an account you designate
• Pay with Cashback Bonus at Amazon.com and with PayPal
• Charitable donations to select charities
• Gift cards, starting at $5

Except for gift cards, your cash back is worth its face value. With gift cards, some merchants offer a bonus, for example getting a $25 gift card for only $20 in cash back. That makes shopping for gift cards with any of these merchants the best redemption value. Otherwise, the easiest and most straightforward option is simply redeeming cash back for a statement credit.

Card Benefits

Low Intro APR

0% intro APR for the first 15 months on purchases, then a variable APR of 17.24% – 28.24%.

Security and Fraud Protections

• Online Privacy Protection – every 90 days Discover will scan at least 10 people-search sites for your online personal information and help you submit opt-out requests 
• Discover Identity Alerts – receive free alerts if your Social Security Number is found on any of thousands of dark web sites
• $0 Fraud Liability Guarantee – you’re never responsible for unauthorized purchases on your Discover Card
• Instant Account Freeze – you can prevent new purchases, cash advances and balance transfers in seconds with an on/off switch on the mobile app and website

No Foreign Transaction Fees

For those who travel internationally, this card does not charge foreign transaction fees.

What other cards should you consider?

The most popular direct competitor to the Discover it® Card is the Chase Freedom Flex℠ Card. Both cards have no annual fee and earn 5% back in quarterly rotating categories. However, the Chase Freedom Flex also earns 5% on travel purchased through Chase, 3% back on dining and at drugstores and 1% back on other purchases. It also has a few other perks that distinguish it from the Discover it Card, such as trip cancellation and interruption insurance, purchase protection, extended warranty and cell phone protection.

If you’re open to earning points instead of cash back, the Chase Freedom Flex card is a better option. The cash back earned on that card can be converted into Chase Ultimate Rewards® points. If you already have or intend to open a Chase Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred card, you can unlock more value than the 1 cent/point you get redeeming cash back.

This is accomplished by moving your Chase Freedom Flex points to any of those cards. With the Chase Sapphire Reserve, points are worth 1.5 cents/point when redeemed for travel through the Chase Travel Portal. Cardholders of the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred, also improve their effective return rate, just not quite as much. With these two cards, points are worth 1.25 cents per point when redeemed for travel through the Chase Travel Portal. But the Chase Travel Portal isn’t your only option. You can often get even greater value by transferring those points to any of Chase’s 13 travel partners!

For more information on Chase’s flexible points program, check out The Complete Guide to Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

Bottom Line

The appeal of the Discover it® Cash Back Credit Card lies in the quarterly 5% bonus categories. I think everyone should own at least one rotating categories card because you’re not going to find many other cards that get you 5x rewards. Whether you choose the Discover it or the Chase Freedom Flex or another rotating category card is up to personal preference.

Note that this is definitely more of a complementary card and shouldn’t be used as your main credit card. I only use this card when spending in the rotating categories, since I can do better than 1% cash back on most of my other cards.

Apply here for the Discover it® Cash Back Credit Card.