Find it cash back overview
Discover It Cash Back offers 5% cash back on the first $1,500 in purchases you make each quarter at select merchants. Eligible merchants rotate quarterly and require registration. You’ll earn 1% cash back on all other purchases and the card doesn’t charge an annual fee. There’s no traditional sign-up bonus, but Discover will get all the cash you’ve earned back at the end of your first year. Card Rating*: ⭐⭐⭐
*Card ratings are based on the opinion of TPG’s editors and are not influenced by the card issuer.
Determining how to maximize the points and miles earned by many credit cards can be complicated and time-consuming — and seem less valuable if you don’t travel. For both of these reasons, some people choose credit cards that offer cash back.
Among them, the Discover It Cash Back Card offers 5% cash back on the first $1,500 in purchases you make at select merchants each quarter, which changes every three months. These merchants typically include gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, and more. Even if you use travel rewards cards for most purchases, you may still find value in adding this card to your wallet because it makes getting cash back so much easier.
It has no annual fee and a recommended credit score of 670. Now, let’s dive into the card’s benefits, earnings, redeeming and how it compares to other cards to determine if the Discover It Cash Back Card is right for you.
Information for the Discover It Cash Back Card has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Find out the cash back pros and cons
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Find that cash back welcome offer
Discover It Cash Back doesn’t offer a traditional sign-up bonus, but it does offer a unique earning opportunity for new cardholders.
Discover will match all cash back you earn during the 12 consecutive billing periods that your new account is open. The match for the entire year is made at the end of the 12th billing period. That effectively means the earning rates on this card are doubled for the first year, making it a potentially lucrative opportunity if you use the card frequently in those first 12 months.
Related: Top Credit Cards With 0% Intro APR
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Discover those cash back benefits
The Discover It Cash Back Card has perks and benefits that are perfect for first-time or less experienced cardholders. Earning and redeeming cashback is easy and simple — but we’ll devote later sections of this review to earning and redeeming.
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First, let’s consider the other benefits of the card:
- There are no foreign transaction fees
- Free overnight shipping for replacement cards to any US street address
- Freeze your account in seconds to stop new purchases with an on/off switch available on both the mobile app and website
- A free credit scorecard that includes your credit score, number of recent inquiries and more
- Free alerts you can activate that notify you if your social security number is found on any of the thousands of dark web sites
It’s nothing to write home about if you’re used to enjoying travel perks, but it’s a pretty decent list of standard perks for a no-annual-fee cash-back card.
Related: Your Ultimate Guide to Discover Cards
Get cash back with Discover It Cash Back
Find It Cash Back Earn 5% cash back every quarter you sign up with a variety of merchants, such as gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, Amazon.com and more.
You need to activate 5% of the categories before you can shop in the bonus category each quarter — but Discover makes the process easy online and you can activate up to two months before each quarter starts.
However, you’ll only earn 5% cash back on purchases up to $1,500 each quarter at eligible merchants. Assuming you spend $1,500 on purchases in the 5% category during the quarter you activate the bonus, you’ll earn $75 cash back on those purchases.
You will also get 1% cash back on all other purchases with Discover It Cash Back. You may want to increase your cash-back percentage on other purchases by using other cards with better flat-rate earnings or increased earnings in select categories. One example is Discover it Miles, which also matches the cash back you earn during your first year.
Related: Why you should earn Discover It Miles
Redeeming Cash Back with Discover It Cash Back
Some cards earn cash-back rewards but then make it difficult to actually get your cash back. This is one place where the Discover It Cash Back Card excels. There are tons of options out there and most will allow you to get as little as a penny in cash back.
These options include:
- Gift cards or instant e-certificates, starting at $20
- Charitable donations to select charities, starting with a penny
- Credit to your account, starting from one penny
- Electronic deposits, starting with one penny, into any account you designate
- Pay with cashback bonuses at select merchants, starting from as little as a penny
For all but one of these options, your cashback is equal to its face value. Gift cards may be an exception — some are available with bonuses. For example, you may find some merchants offering a $25 or $30 gift card for $20 cash back.
If you shop with any of these merchants, this will provide the best value. Otherwise, TPG Editor Emily Thompson would recommend just redeeming for credit in your account — instead of using a gift card, you can charge another purchase to your credit card and earn more rewards.
Related: How to Redeem Discover Cash-Back Rewards
Which cards compete with Discover It Cash Back?
There are tons of card options out there if you’re looking Earn cash-back rewards.
For additional options, please see our list of the best cash-back cards and the best cards with no annual fee.
Related: Chase Freedom Flex Vs. Chase Freedom Unlimited
Is Discover It Cash Back Worth It?
If you’re a beginner or want to add more bonus categories to your cash-back strategy, Discover It Cash Back is a great choice. However, if you’re looking for more consistent bonus categories or a longer list of benefits, you’ll want to go with a different card.
Bottom line
Discover It Cash Back offers 5% cash back on purchases up to $1,500 each quarter in rotating categories. The card has no annual fee, so it’s a relatively easy choice to add to your wallet to use in this category each quarter — especially if you’ve already exhausted your Chase 5/24 slots.
However, the potential cash back in this 5% category is limited to the first $1,500 in purchases each quarter and you’ll only earn 1% cash back on all other purchases, so this shouldn’t be your everyday go-to card.
Related: How to choose a credit card