Personal Finance Insider writes about products, strategies, and tips to help you make smart decisions with your money. We may receive a small commission from our partners, like American Express, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.
10’000 Hours/Getty Images
- Instead of a welcome bonus, Discover credit cards offer a Cashback Match program.
- Discover automatically matches the rewards you earn in your first year – you don’t need to enroll.
- If you earned $500 cash back in your first year, it would be matched for a total of $1,000.
- Read Insider’s guide to the best rewards credit cards.
Many cash-back and rewards credit cards offer a sign-up bonus of some type, which you’ll usually earn when you meet a minimum spending requirement within a specified time frame. For example, with the
However, some rewards credit cards don’t offer an initial bonus at all, instead offering a high rate of return on all spending. The
Discover credit cards also do things a bit differently. For one, none of its cards charge an annual fee; they favor simplicity over long lists of cardholder perks.
Read more: The best Discover cards in 2021
And instead of an initial bonus or a higher rate of return on all your spending, Discover credit cards offer a “delayed” bonus of sorts – Discover Cashback Match – which can be hugely beneficial if you spend a lot of money on your credit card in the first year.
Discover Cashback Match: How it works
Discover credit cards have different earning rates and bonus categories, with some offering a higher rate of rewards than others. However, all Discover credit cards offer a Cashback Match component, which boosts the rewards you earn after the first year.
Once you open an eligible Discover credit card, you’ll earn rewards based on your card’s rewards schedule as usual. After 12 months, however, Discover will match all the rewards you earned the first 12 months with no limits (even on bonus categories). You don’t need to do anything to activate this match feature.
Read more: The best cash-back credit cards in 2021
For example, if you spent $20,000 on the
The same is true with the
If you maxed out each of Discover’s quarterly bonus categories each year, you would earn $300 in these categories alone. If you also used your card for $20,000 in regular spending each year, you would earn $200 in rewards. This equals a total of $500 in rewards for the year, which Discover would match for a total of $1,000 in cash back after 12 months.
You can redeem your matched Discover rewards in the same ways as all other rewards you’ve earned, including gift cards, statement credits, cash back, purchases on Amazon.com and PayPal, and donations to Discover’s charity partners.
Also, note that you don’t have to wait to redeem your rewards until 12 months are up and you receive the bonus; you can spend your regular Discover rewards throughout the year and Discover will still match the amount you earned after 12 months.
Which Discover cards qualify for the Cashback Match program?
New cardmembers of eligible Discover credit cards can see all their rewards matched after the first year. The main cards that are eligible for this offer include:
|
Discover credit card |
Read more |
|
|
Discover it Cash Back card review |
|
|
Discover it Student Cash Back card review |
|
|
Discover it Miles card review |
|
|
Discover it Secured card review |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If you don’t mind giving up an initial sign-up bonus in exchange for a delayed bonus that is commensurate with how much you spend on your credit card during year one, the Discover Cashback Match program is worth exploring.
Make sure you compare all Discover credit cards so you wind up with the best option for your spending style.
Holly Johnson is a credit card expert, award-winning writer, and mother of two who is obsessed with frugality, budgeting, and travel.
Powered by WPeMatico
