Redeeming your Discover cashback the right way.

Let’s say you’ve had your Discover credit card (Discover IT, Chrome, Miles…) For just over a year and you received the cashback match. For this example, let’s assume you now have a grand total of $200 sitting in your cash back balance.

How do you use the cashback?

The first option is to redeem it as is towards statement credit. Meaning, if you have a charge of $200 or lower in your statement, you redeem the matching amount from your cash back to pay it off.

The second option and what truly gives you more value is redeeming it for eCertificates and Gift cards in the “Redemption Options” on the Discover App on your mobile device.

Which one is better and why?

Besides the obvious loss of potential value to be had in option one, the potential gains from option two are worth considering.

If you go with option one, you redeem 1:1 meaning $1 cash back is redeemed for $1 towards a statement credit.

If you go with option two, you have not only options of where you want to redeem it, but you also get more value.

What do you mean by more value?

So let’s say you’re going out to eat at Chili’s (restaurant) with a few friends. The bill comes out to $50.

You have a few options. If you have a restaurant rewarding card, the most you may get is 5% back. That being $2.5.

If you were to get the Chili’s eGift card on the Discover app redeeming your cash back, you get $25 on a $20 redemption. That’s 20% back in value on money you already made.

By simple math, if you offer to pay for everyone and they pay you back, you collect back the balance and get an extra $10 worth (two $25 gift cards).

Mind you this will only last as long as your have a minimum cash back balance required for redemptions. If you drop below that minimum balance, you cannot redeem vouchers.

This seems like a good idea, but can it work elsewhere?

Why yes of course! You can redeem your cash back for gift cards at Kohl’s where you can get gift cards for everywhere else. Same for Macy’s. The options and cross-platform purchasable possibilities are endless (rather until you run out of cash back).

Hence, don’t redeem your cash back for statement balance until you absolutely need to. Save up the balance until it reaches a good amount (generally over $100) to be a worthwhile redemption.

If you’re interested in applying for the Discover cards, you may use our referral link as it rewards us and you with a $50 statement credit to get you started. While you can use a general link, it does help the platform out and us in reaching out to more people through the content we produce.

Link for Discover IT.

Link for Discover Chrome.