Discover It Card Review 2022

Discover Financial Services was founded in 1985 and offers a range of services, such as credit cards, online banking, as well as personal, student, or home loans. Although they provide services for most individuals, they specialize in assisting those who are new to being a credit cardholder. In this Discover It card review, we’ll focus on their entry-level 0% annual fee credit card.

Below, you’ll find out whether it’s the right card for you based on a range of factors. We’ll look at:

• Need-to-know card details
• Eligibility criteria and how to apply
• Privacy and security
• Alternatives
• FAQs

What Do You Need to Know About the Discover It Secured Credit Card?

There is certain information you always need to be aware of, no matter what bank card you are considering. Here are the must-know details that we’ve identified in our Discover It credit card review to help you decide whether it’s the right card for you:

• Card type: The Discover It is a cashback credit card. This means you can use it for anything that you can use a normal credit card for, such as purchases, transfers, etc. Most purchases are tied to a cashback scheme whereby you earn a percentage of what you spend back in cash value.

• Annual fee: The Discover It card doesn’t have an annual fee which means you won’t have to pay any flat annual account fees to own or use this card. You only need to consider the annual percentage rate (APR) when making purchases or taking a cash advance.

• Signup bonus: As an intro offer, you’ll enjoy a 0% intro APR for the first 14 months after receiving your card. You’ll also earn double bonus cashback rewards that you accrue during the first year with no limit.

• Rewards: You get 5% at qualifying purchases according to a quarterly calendar. For example, all Amazon.com, Walmart.com, and Target.com purchases during October-December will earn you 5% cashback. From April to June, you get 5% cashback for your spending on gas, wholesale, and streaming services. The Discover card cashback rate is a flat 1% for all other purchases. There are no limits to how much you can accrue in cashback.

• Redemption: There are multiple ways to redeem. Either request a straight cash deposit to your bank account (starting at $0.1), purchase gift cards (starting at $5), or spend your cashback directly at participating stores, such as Amazon.com. There is no time limit to redeem your rewards, and if your account is inactive for 18 months, you will simply receive a statement credit.
• Terms: After the intro APR period, the regular APR will be from 11.99% to 22.99% for purchases and balance transfers depending on the prime rate. Cash advances have an APR of 24.99%. To avoid accruing APR, you need to settle your bill within 25 days of the last billing period. There is a minimum interest charge of $0.5. Late payment penalties are $40, but your first late payment penalty will be waived.
• Foreign transaction fees: 0% foreign transaction fees in most countries.
• Balance transfer fee: You might qualify for a temporary 3% balance transfer fee if you sign up. However, the usual balance transfer fee is 5%. The cash advance fee is either $10 or 5%, whichever is higher.
• Other benefits: Choose from over 25 different card designs and get a free card replacement with overnight shipping. As our review shows, the Discover It card is secured with security number alerts, the ability to freeze your account, and 0% fraud liability.

What Are the Discover It Secured Credit Card Eligibility Criteria?

While writing our Discover It credit card review, we found it to be one of the cards with the simplest eligibility criteria. Here are the only application requirements:

• You must be 18 years or older, 21 years or older may apply if ordered via phone
• You must provide your name and surname, social security number, and indicate whether or not you are a US citizen (this does not count as acceptance criteria)
• You must provide a valid address and your contact information (a phone number is optional)

There are virtually no other eligibility requirements, with no hard minimum income, credit score, or other criteria. In conjunction with other strategies for fixing your credit, such as credit builder loans, this card can be an excellent option.

Discover It Customer Reviews

When looking at expert Discover It credit card reviews, the overall impression is mostly positive with 4+ star reviews. This is mainly due to the card’s ease of use when it comes to applying, paying, as well as earning and redeeming cashback rewards with it.

Discover It does very well on ConsumerAffairs with a 3.8 rating out of almost 800 reviews.

The only places you’ll find a significant number of negative Discover card reviews are on Trustpilot and BBB where they have a 1.7 and 1.38 rating, respectively. However, these ratings come from a very small sample size of 82 and 153 reviews. Most reviews complain about a poor customer experience while most positive reviews hail the rewards program.

It’s also worth noting that they are a BBB-accredited business with an A+ rating.

Privacy & Security Policy

As part of our Discover It cashback card review, we also looked at their privacy and security policy for any red flags. We didn’t really find any. They collect a minimum of personal information and only request other standard info, like cheque photos for verification or third-party banking details for transfers/payments.

The website itself is also secured using SSL encryption and there doesn’t seem to be any significant security incidents in their history. Your card and account also come with standard security measures, such as alerting you if your social security number is used suspiciously, the ability to freeze your account if you suspect fraud and 0% fraud liability.

Alternatives

As the last step in our Discover It cash back card review, we also looked at some of its competitors to give you a better perspective of how it compares to other similar services on the market:

Chase Freedom Flex vs Discover It

Chase Freedom Flex is also a 0 annual fee card with a cashback program earning you between 1% and 5% for qualifying purchases. There is also a $200 cashback bonus after completing your first $500 in purchases. Earnings also don’t expire, however, there is a spending limit of $1,500 that you can earn from per quarter. It’s equally great for building up credit.

Indigo Platinum Mastercard vs Discover It 

This is another card that’s most suitable for new credit card owners who want to build up a payment and credit history. It also has very low eligibility requirements and some basic fraud prevention with 0% liability. However, there is no rewards program, the APR is higher at 24.99%, and there is an annual account fee of $99.

In Conclusion

In our Discover It card review, we identified the main benefits of using this card as follows:

• 0 annual fee and 0% intro APR
• The simple and effective rewards program with a 5% cashback rate
• Positive feedback from consumers and experts

The low eligibility criteria and accessibility make this the ideal card for anyone, but particularly for new credit card owners who want to earn some rewards while building up their credit.

We also looked at the privacy policy and security policy as part of our Discover It secured card review and didn’t find anything to worry about. Overall, the Discover It card is something you should definitely consider getting.