How the Discover it Cash Back Card Could Save You $300 Per Year

The Discover it® Cash Back card offers 1% cash back on most purchases. That's a nice perk, but it's also pretty standard. Where the card really shines is in its rotating cash back bonus categories. Read on to learn how you could save $300 per year on purchases you're already making.

How to save $300 per year with Discover it® Cash Back bonus categories

The Discover it® Cash Back card offers special bonus categories that change each quarter of the year. When you activate these offers, you'll earn a whopping 5% cash back on your spending in that category for the quarter. The 5% cash back applies to your first $1,500 of spending in the category, which means you can earn $75 each quarter, or $300 per year.

The bonus categories usually encompass everyday purchases. Here's how they broke down in 2023:

• January-March: 5% cash back on grocery store, drug store, and select streaming services spending. The offer excluded Walmart and Target purchases.
• April-June: 5% cash back on restaurant and wholesale club purchases.
• July-September: 5% cash back on purchases at gas stations, as well as those made with certain digital wallets, such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Garmin Pay, and in-store purchases made using Google Pay.
• October-December: 5% cash back on Amazon.com and Target purchases.

If you spend more than $1,500 in a bonus category, you'll still earn 1% cash back on purchases above that amount.

What really sweetens the deal, though, is that Discover automatically matches your cash back during the first 12 months. So if you earned the maximum cash back amount for each category in the first year, you'd earn $600 cash back, rather than $300. There are no limits on how much cash back you can earn.

You can have your cash back deposited to your bank account or issued as a statement credit, or you can use your rewards at check out on Amazon and PayPal.

A few more perks of the Discover it® Cash Back

There are a few more perks that make this card appealing:

• There's no annual fee.
• You get 0% intro APR on new purchases and balance transfers during the first 15 months.
• There are no foreign transaction fees.
• You automatically earn 2% cash back on the first $1,000 of restaurant and gas purchases each quarter.

Is the Discover it® Cash Back right for you?

The Discover it® Cash Back is among the best cash back cards out there, particularly if you spend a lot in the bonus categories. Given that the bonus categories typically apply to areas where people do a lot of spending, like grocery and gas purchases, you could earn decent cash back even if you're not a huge spender. And the first-year cash back match is pretty tough to beat as a welcome offer.

However, if you spend a significant amount of money on a particular category, you might want to check out credit cards tailored to that particular type of spending. For example, if you typically have a huge supermarket bill, you might want a grocery credit card to earn more cash back throughout the year.

But overall, the Discover it® Cash Back card's cash back rewards could save you hundreds. Just don't forget to activate the bonus categories each quarter, or else you'll be passing up free money.