Discover Cashback Match: How It Works, and Which Cards Are Eligible
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Discover Cashback Match is a unique program that matches your credit card rewards after your first year, and it couldn't be easier to use
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- Instead of a welcome bonus, Discover credit cards offer a Cashback Match program.
- Discover automatically matches the rewards you earn at the end of 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 come with a welcome bonus offer of some type, which you'll usually earn when you meet a minimum spending requirement within a specified time frame. For example, with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you can earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Discover credit cards do things a bit differently. For one, none of its cards charge an annual fee; they favor simplicity over long lists of cardholder perks.
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Discover it® Cash Back
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Discover it® Miles
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Discover it® chrome
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Discover it® Student Cash Back
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Discover it® Secured Credit Card
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Discover it® Balance Transfer
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.
We're focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won't be worth it if you're paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it's important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.
Discover Cashback Match: How it works
- From July 1 to September 30, 2022, you can earn 5% cash back at restaurants and PayPal on up to $1,500 in purchases after enrollment, then 1%
- Discover will match your cash back earned at the end of your first account year
- No annual fee
- Cap on how much bonus cash back you can earn each quarter
- If the quarterly categories aren't convenient for you, you can earn more cash back with a different card
- Intro Offer: Unlimited Cashback Match - only from Discover. Discover will automatically match all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year! There's no minimum spending or maximum rewards. You could turn $150 cash back into $300.
- Earn 5% cash back on everyday purchases at different places each quarter like Amazon.com, grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations and when you pay using PayPal, up to the quarterly maximum when you activate. Plus, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases - automatically.
- New! Discover helps remove your personal information from select people-search websites. Activate by mobile app for free.
- Every $1 you earn in cash back is $1 you can redeem.
- Get a 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases. Then 14.24% to 25.24% Standard Variable Purchase APR applies, based on credit worthiness.
- No annual fee.
- Click "Apply Now" to see terms and conditions.
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 in the first 12 months with no limits (even on bonus categories). You don't need to do anything to activate this match feature.
For example, if you spent $20,000 on the Discover it® Milesin your first year, earning 1.5 miles for each dollar you spent, you would initially earn 30,000 miles. However, Discover would match all the rewards you earned for a total of 60,000 miles after your first 12 months.
The same is true with the Discover it® Cash Back, which offers 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent in quarterly bonus categories that rotate (then 1% back), as well as 1% back on all other purchases (from July 1 to September 30, 2022, you can earn 5% cash back at restaurants and PayPal on up to $1,500 in purchases after enrollment, then 1%).
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 eligible Discover credit cardholders can see all their rewards matched after the first year. The main cards that are eligible for this offer include:
- Unlimited 1.5x miles on all purchases
- Discover matches all the miles you've earned at the end of your first year
- Limited benefits compared to other travel rewards cards
- Unlimited Bonus: Only Discover gives you an unlimited match of all the Miles you've earned at the end of your first year. For example, if you earn 35,000 Miles, you get 70,000 Miles. There's no signing up, no minimum spending or maximum rewards. Just a Miles-for-Miles match.
- Automatically earn unlimited 1.5x Miles on every dollar of every purchase - with no annual fee.
- Redeem Miles to pay any part of your monthly bill, including your minimum payment.
- Turn Miles into cash in any amount, any time. Or redeem as a statement credit for travel purchases like airfare, hotels, rideshares, gas stations, restaurants and more with no blackout dates. However you redeem, Miles keep the same value. And Miles never expire.
- 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases. Then 14.24% - 25.24% Standard Variable Purchase APR will apply.
- New! Discover helps remove your personal information from select people-search websites. Activate by mobile app for free.
- Discover is accepted nationwide by 99% of the places that take credit cards.
- Freeze your account in seconds with an on/off switch either on the mobile app or website to prevent new purchases, cash advances, and balance transfers.
- Get an alert if we find your Social Security number on any of thousands of Dark Web sites.* Activate for free.
- Click "Apply Now" to see terms and conditions.
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.
For rates and fees of Discover it® Balance Transfer, please click here.
For rates and fees of Discover it® Miles, please click here.
For rates and fees of Discover it® Miles, please click here.
For rates and fees of Discover it® Cash Back, please click here.
For rates and fees of Discover it® Student Cash Back, please click here.
For rates and fees of Discover it® Secured Credit Card, please click here.
For rates and fees of Discover it® chrome, please click here.
For rates and fees of Discover it® Student chrome, please click here.
Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Read our editorial standards.
Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.
**Enrollment required.
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