If you’re new to credit cards, maybe an international student who recently got their Social Security Number or a new College student building their credit score up, the Discover IT card is a great starter card to have.
The Basics
If you’re completely new to credit cards, or had the Deserve Card (which does not require an SSN) and aren’t familiar with what a credit score is or what affects it, I’d recommend you check this out to learn more. Credit cards can be used to get more value out of everyday transactions and it is important to keep them in mind when building up your credit profile.
When you sign-up for the Discover Card using our link, you’re going to get a $50 statement credit after your first transaction. Additionally, the 5% cashback card offers rotating quarterly categories which may range from Grocery stores (HEB, Kroger, Aldi’s, etc…) to Restaurants and Amazon purchases.
Discover offers four unique categories every calendar year and each offers a 5% cash-back upto $1500 in combined expenses – i.e. $75 after-which the cashback rate drops to 1%. So maximizing all four categories will get you $300 at the end of year one with a match of $300 guaranteed.
Cashback Matching
For the first year of card membership, all the cashback you collect from either the 5% categories or general 1% from non-qualifying spends, will be matched by discover effectively doubling your earn rate.
So 5% cashback becomes 10% and 1% becomes 2%. Do note, the match is at the end of the year so expect to see the match bonus only after your 12th statement posts from account opening.
Maximizing the Quarterly Spends
Of the many ways to hit quarterly spends, there are ways to maximize the cashback you get by:
- offer to pay for your peers/family/friends who don’t have a credit card.
- pre-purchasing gift cards during qualifying months for you/friends to use later on in the year.
I personally have never meet the $1500 spend every quarter and would never recommend you buy things you don’t need with money you don’t have.
Application Process
The card is meant as a starter card for students and discover is pretty easy to get approved for. They do require digital scans of your SSN and ID proof and may ask you to verify the information over the phone, but nothing a little time wouldn’t hurt doing.
Redeeming Cashback
There are two ways to use your cashback:
- Redeem for statement credit which will just be added to your statement as a credit
- Redeem for gift cards which give 20% or more value per dollar (more on that here).
Use Credit Cards Responsibly
Before you do hit the APPLY button, please consider that a credit card gives you access to credit the same way a loan from a bank works. If you are unable to pay it off, you will be charged high interest and it will negatively impact your credit score.
Spend money on things you need with the money you have.
For any further questions you may have, don’t hesitate in contacting us and we’ll try our best to clarify them.