Credit Card News

Discover Announces 5% Bonus Categories for April to June 2023

Late last year, rather than releasing its entire 2023 calendar of quarterly 5% bonus categories for its It card, Discover only revealed the categories for January through March (grocery store, drug store, and select streaming service purchases). Now, with the second quarter coming up, the card issuer has announced what spending categories cardholders will be able to earn 5% back on from April through June.

First up, during the second quarter of 2023, Discover It cardmembers will be able to earn 5% back at restaurants. This includes restaurants, cafes, cafeterias, and fast food locations as well as restaurant delivery services. Additionally, customers can earn 5% on purchases from Wholesale Clubs during the quarter — although the company advises that cardholders confirm that Discover is accepted at their wholesale club of choice. Moreover, they note that services associated with wholesale clubs such as delivery, travel, and cell phone purchases may not be eligible for this category nor may purchases from individual merchants that may be located within a wholesale club location.

As a reminder, there are some restrictions on these bonus categories. First, they are capped at a total of $1,500 in combined bonus category spending. In other words, cardholders can earn a maximum of $75 in 5% cashback from restaurants and wholesale club purchases during the quarter. After this cap is reached, all subsequent purchases in these categories will earn the regular 1% back. Also, Discover utilizes the merchant category code (MCC) for purchases to determine whether or not they qualify for the 5% category, so errors in a business’s MCC could make them ineligible for these bonuses.

Looking at Discover’s quarterly bonus calendar from years past, the Restaurants category has been a staple of each year. However, for the past several years, this has been a third-quarter (July to September) category rather than a second quarter category. Meanwhile, the Wholesale Clubs category is making a return, having previously been included on the Q2 2021 line-up but left off of the 2022 calendar.

Overall, while Discover’s second-quarter bonus category picks aren’t really groundbreaking (as both have been featured before), they do offer a one-two punch for cardholders. While Restaurants are usually a solid category for consumers who enjoy a nice splurge, the Warehouse Club part of the bonus equation also offers a more practical purchase option. Of course, with the Restaurants category moving to Q2 from its long-held Q3 spot, it will be interesting to see what Discover cooks up for its July through September bonus categories this year. On that note, under the card company’s new release schedule, we’ll need to wait until June 1st to see what the third quarter of the year will bring.