Credit Card News

Discover Announces 5% Bonus Categories for Q2 2026

by Kyle BurbankMar 2, 2026

With Spring just around the corner, Discover has announced its second quarter 5% bonus category picks.

About Discover’s Q2 2026 Bonus Categories:

From April 1st through June 30th, 2026, Discover It customers can earn up to 5% back in two spending categories. Restaurants and Home Improvement Stores.

First, the popular purchase category Restaurants returns for 2026. This category includes full-service restaurants as well as cafes, cafeterias, fast-food establishments, and even caterers. However, dining locations located inside or of affiliated with other businesses (such as in a retail store or hotel) may not qualify. Additionally, bakeries might not be eligible for this category.

The other 5% bonus category for Q2 2026 is Home Improvement Store. Eligible purchases can be made either online or in-store, with home improvement retail stores, building supply stores (including lumber, paint, and/or hardware), home furnishing stores, home appliance stores, and flooring stores all qualifying. Also eligible are lawn, nursery, and garden supply stores. As for exceptions, purchases made via third parties (including contractors), might not qualify for the bonus.

As always, the 5% back earning rate is capped at a total of $1,500 in combined bonus category spending per quarter. In other words, at most, customers can earn $75 cashback from this offer during the quarter. Additionally, cardholders must activate this bonus on the Discover site or app.

With these new categories taking effect on April 1st, throughout the rest of this month, cardholders can still earn up to 5% back on Q1 categories. These include: Grocery Stores (excluding Target and Walmart), Wholesale Clubs, and Select Streaming Services.

My Thoughts:

This bonus category line-up is actually a repeat of Q1 2025 — except that quarter offered a third category: Streaming Services. Now, that particular category happens to be featured in the current quarter, so I’m not asking for a repeat. Moreover, Discover has been known to have two-category quarters often, so this isn’t exactly rare. However, I do think this creates an interesting point of comparison.

The good news is that, as far as categories with high-spend potential go, these are both pretty strong. I also appreciate the timing of the Home Improvement Stores category as the spring cleaning and project angle makes a lot of sense to me. Then, after a hard day of renovations, you can treat yourself to a nice meal out, right?
All in all, I’m pretty pleased with this quarter’s picks. Then again, I hope to not spend $1,500 on home improvement projects if I can help it. But, if I do have to, at least I know I can earn 5% back in the process.

Note: Click here for the current Discover It 5% Bonus Categories.

Author

Kyle Burbank

Head Writer ~ Fioney

Kyle is the head writer for Fioney. He is a personal finance nerd, constantly looking for new apps and services to test and incorporate into his own financial game plan. In addition to his role at Fioney, he's written for other publications including Born2Invest, Lifehack, and Laughing Place, as well as his own site Money@30. He also creates personal finance and travel-related videos for Fioney's YouTube channel, which has garnered more than 2 million views. Currently, Kyle resides in Springfield, Missouri with his wife of 10 years. Together, they enjoy traveling (including visiting Disney Parks around the world), dining, and playing with their dog Rigby.

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