Credit Cards
2022 Discover It Card Review: Still Feeling “It” After All These Years
Many years ago now, following what I called my financial awakening, I found that I was suddenly in the market for a new rewards credit card. This led me to start researching various cards before ultimately landing on my final choice: the Discover It card. Before we get into my hands-on review, let me explain what I liked about this card on paper and why I ultimately applied for it.
Why I Chose the Discover It Card
Why I Chose the Discover It Card
As you probably know if you’ve ever set out to find a new credit card there are tons of options, each with its own set of pros and cons. Admittedly my first line of thinking was to look at branded cards that would offer loyalty perks for various airlines or hotels. However, while I’d like to do more travel, at the time it wasn’t clear that I’d use any one of these brand-specific cards enough to get any real rewards. So what did I go for instead?
A flat cashback rate with rotating bonus categories
Before adding the It card to my wallet, my wife and I actually had been using a PNC card she’d been using for years. While it is a strong option overall, the credit card has one glaring downside: any category that wasn’t gas, entertainment, or dining earned only .25% cashback unless we spent more than $10,000. Because of this, finding a card that could fill that hole was a big priority. With that goal in mind, I was attracted to the Discover It card’s 1% back on everything. However, since 1% is pretty standard (and is half of what flat-rate cards such as the Citi Double Cash or Wells Fargo Active Cash earn), what really won me over were the bonus categories.
Each quarter the It card offers a new spending category that nets you 5% on up to $1,500 in spending — amounting to as much as $75 in cashback. For example during one of my favorite quarters of the year cardholders can earn 5% on purchases made at restaurants. Of course Q4 is also a great one as Amazon.com orders are typically the featured bonus — this year added a bonus category after my own heart. Currently Discover’s 5% slate for 2022 looks like this:
- January-March 2022: Grocery Stores (excluding Walmart and Target) and Fitness Club & Gym Memberships
- April-June 2022: Gas Stations and Target
- July-September 2022: Restaurants and Paypal
- October-December 2022: Amazon.com and Digital Wallets
Unlike in years past, Discover will not be releasing its full 2023 category calendar ahead of time. Instead, they plan to reveal each quarter’s selections just one month ahead of time. The first quarter of the year’s categories are as follows:
- January-March 2023: Grocery Stores (excluding Walmart and Target), Drug Stores, and Select Streaming Services
- April-June 2023: Restaurants and Wholesale Clubs
In the years that I’ve held my It card, the lineup has never stayed exactly the same — although some of the best categories have made reappearances. 2022 has also been a pretty strong year thanks to the addition of the Digital Wallets category to this fourth quarter. Since Apple Pay is accepted nearly everywhere I shop (with the notable exception of Walmart), this could easily be a quarterly bonus I max out during the course of the holiday shopping season.
If I were to take any issues with the current line-up, the explicit exclusion of Walmart and Target from the Grocery bonus months is a bit of a bummer. That said, it is in line with how other credit cards that reward grocery purchases handle these retailers. Thankfully, though, I can still take advantage of the 5% deal at Aldi and elsewhere. In fact, the quarters that feature Restaurant and Grocery as categories (Q1 and Q3, respectively) see me swapping out my Amex Gold for my good ol’ Discover.
No annual fee
For a short time during my search, I actually considered a card with an annual fee. In many cases, such as with the Disney Premier Visa (which I was drawn to given my affinity for that particular company), it seemed that paying these fees might be a good bet in the long run. But who wants to shell out upwards of $100 to perhaps only barely earn it back?
That’s why I was delighted to discover (no pun intended) that the It card carried no annual fee. Additionally, unlike many other rewards cards, there wasn’t even a higher tier card to tempt you. Ultimately this gives me greater flexibility as I don’t feel obligated to use the card or risk wasting my fee.
I will say that my feelings on annual fee cards and that Disney Visa card have both evolved — in opposite directions — but I still think that the no annual fee aspect of the It card is a selling point.
Foreign transactions + acceptance issues?
Before applying for my Discover card my biggest concern was about how many retailers would accept the card outside of the U.S. This was especially important because, while the card boasted no foreign transaction fees, I questioned whether that selling point would ever even come into play if I couldn’t find anyone to take my card while on vacation.
What started as a major concern quickly turned around once I learned that Discover has partnerships with UnionPay in China and JCB in Japan to boost their acceptance in a huge way. As luck would have it, my latest travels haven’t taken me to that part of the globe (although I did spend time in Hong Kong, which is actually not included in the UnionPay partnership) and I learned from my visits to Paris that acceptance in Europe is pretty low. Therefore, unless you’re headed to China or Japan, it’s probably best to have cash or a Visa card on hand as a backup.
First year = double cashback
Admittedly the Discover It card doesn’t offer a huge signing bonus upfront. On the other hand that could be a good thing if you play your cards right. Currently the company is offering a bonus to new cardholders where they will match the cashback you earn in the first year.
To be clear, this means that you won’t receive your bonus until after a full year of using the card but this presents you with an opportunity to earn a big payoff. There is no limit to the level of cashback they will match and you can even use your cashback in the meantime without it deducting from your matching bonus. With this offer on top of the 1% all the time and 5% quarterly categories, I was able to score a pretty sizable bonus at the end of my first year and still have a couple of hundred dollars sacked away, ready for me to redeem when the time is right.
Card design is on point
I’d be lying if I said that this wasn’t a factor. I opted for the plum-colored card but was happy to see that I can order additional cards that look like old cassette tapes or ones with NHL hockey team logos on them (go Devils). Initially, you’ll have the choice between four basic card colors: plum, garnet, spruce, and the very rare and exotic… blue.
When receiving the card you may be surprised to find that all of the info including your name and the card number is printed on the back. This leaves the front with a clean look, nice finish, and just overall sexy appearance. Like I said, this probably shouldn’t be a big deal but it is for me. For what it’s worth, I did end up ordering the cassette tape design for my wife and she gets compliments about it from just about every merchant that sees it.
My Experiences with the Discover It
My Experiences with the Discover It
Having been a Discover cardholder for some time now, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to explore the card’s site, app, and more. Here’s what I think is worth knowing about the Discover Card user experience:
Apple Pay and iOS integration
I presume that most credit cards you can obtain these days are compatible with Apple Pay, which is always a good thing in my book. However what initially impressed me was another iOS feature Discover offered.
If you’re like me you frequently swipe down on your iPhone to reach your notification center and overview of the day. While this typically includes a look at the weather and what items are on your calendar it also allows for third-party widgets, including Discover. Now I can quickly view my card balance from this dashboard making it easy to keep on top of things. Plus the Discover app is compatible with Touch and Face ID, which I say is another win.
Something else I should mention is that, since the time I first got my Discover card, they updated their app to allow users to access their credit card and Discover Bank accounts under a single login. As a Discover Bank customer, this was a welcomed improvement. The change also makes it easier to transfer earnings from my Cashback Debit to my It card rewards balance.
Cash out for gift cards and get more
Another aspect of the It card I was surprised to learn about was their selection of gift cards that could be redeemed with cashback earnings. What makes this an even better proposition is that all of these gift cards come with free money. For instance, $40 can buy you a $50 Bed Bath and Beyond card while $24 will currently get you $30 to spend at Chilis. What’s more, Amazon and Walmart recently joined the party, each offering 5% in added value. As of now, there are more than100 gift cards listed so this offers a lot of options to get the most from your earnings. To that point, there’s also a useful filter tool to arrange gift cards by “% Added Value” so that you can easily find the best deals.
Amazon integration.
Not only does Discover love to boost your Amazon cashback each holiday shopping season with their regular 5% bonus category but they also make it easy to redeem your cashback on the site. When you add your Discover It card to your Amazon account, you’ll be able to select your stored cashback as a payment option at checkout. While you don’t get any bonus cash as you would with any of the gift card deals mentioned above, this is a great option for those who want to score something “free” from Amazon’s massive selection of goods. Plus, the 1:1 ratio Discover offers is better than the 0.7¢ per point that some other issuers offer on Amazon redemptions.
Credit score
Since part of the reason I decided to get another credit card all that time ago was to help bring up my credit scores, I was encouraged to find that Discover includes your FICO score from TransUnion on your statements. This information is also accessible through the app and the website. Although this will only give you one credit score it’s a nice added perk nonetheless.
Easy account freeze
If you’ve seen a Discover card commercial in the past several years you’ve probably heard about this nifty feature. Basically, if you misplace your card but aren’t quite sure that it’s gone for good, you can put a hold on your account just in case. If you do end up finding the card afterward — no harm, no foul — you can unfreeze your account and go back to using your card. This is one feature I hope to not have to use but I’m still glad it’s there.
The end of Discover Deals
Sadly not all of the changes that have come to Discover since I’ve been a cardholder have been for the better. Back when I first joined, the company offered what they called Discover Deals in a special section on the site. This included additional cashback offers for retailers like JCPenney.com, Ulta.com, Gap.com, and more when cardholders shopped using Discover Deals links. Unfortunately, this section has since been discontinued — but sites and apps such as Rakuten (formerly Ebates) and Dosh can easily fill the hole left by this departure.
Final Thoughts on the Discover It Card
Final Thoughts on the Discover It Card
I was attracted to the Discover It card for its simple flat-rate cashback offer, as well as the 5% quarterly categories that would make it easy to supplement my current rewards card. While the more experienced version of me now realizes that the 1% base is not really competitive, the rotating category perk still makes this a solid pick in my opinion.
Add in its lack of foreign transaction fees, a first-year bonus cashback doubling offer, and its downright pretty design, and I was sold. However my choice was further validated once I received the card and got to fully explore its tech integrations, security features, and the various other ways it allows me to save money. Plus, the company continues to make attractive decisions, from adding Mobile Wallets to a bonus category and offering Amazon gift cards in their rewards catalog.
Even with my growing credit card collection, there are still purchases where my Discover’s cashback wins out, allowing me to maximize my rewards all around. For all of those reasons, I would recommend the Discover It card to anyone looking for a solid and simple cashback card.
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