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The Discover More Card
The Discover More Card, formerly known as the Discover Platinum
Card, has been a popular choice for visitors to this website since
2005. Web surfers seeking a credit card that combines a favorable
0% intro APR offer with a generous rewards program have invariably
chosen the Discover More Card before all others.
While other credit card banks offer rewards that most consumers
don't want, like luggage and desktop calendars, Discover More has
always featured the best cash back rewards program in the industry.
While other credit cards offer 3% cash back, Discover More offers
5% cash back on a wide variety of shopping categories.
Consumers often worry that Discover More's excellent benefits come
with a price: poor customer service. But nothing could be further
from the truth. In fact, in a recent J.D. Power and Associates study,
American
Express and Discover placed first and second, respectively.
Discover More is actually a family of credit cards that includes
the Black Card, the Clear Card, the Biodegradable card and the classic
More Card. The terms and conditions for all Discover More cards
are the same, however, each card within the family has a unique
physical design. For example, the Biodegradable card is unique in
that it will disintegrate in an earth-friendly way when exposed
to landfill conditions.
Is The Discover More Card Still The Best
Cash Back Rewards Card In The American Market?
Most of us know that credit cards can get us into trouble. Creating
the illusion that everything is free, Americans use credit cards for
everything - the extravagant as well as the necessary. There was a
time when consumers only used credit cards for big purchases. These
days, however, many folks use them for such basic payments as utility
bills. Because consumers often don’t keep track of purchases,
it can be a shock to learn that a card’s monthly balance is much
higher than you thought. And because you didn’t budget for such
a high balance, you can’t pay it all…and the interest starts
racking up.
Wouldn’t it be great if this situation could be reversed –
if instead of contributing to mounting debt, your credit card actually
saved you money? You may have heard the adage “Don’t work
for your money – let your money work for you.” In this current
economy, this might seem a tough concept to fathom - a credit card
that helps you save money rather than spend money? Yes, it does exist.
With products such as the Discover More card, credit card usage can
be exercised to your advantage.
The Discover More card carries many attributes that make your money
work for you. First of all, there is no annual fee for the card. One
would assume this to be a no-brainer for a cash back card (after all,
isn’t the point to get cash, not give it?), but believe it or
not, some cash back cards do charge annual fees – the Visa Black
card has the nerve to carry an annual $495 price tag. Second, the
card seems to offer the lowest interest rate out there for this type
of card – currently as low as 11.99%, with 0% interest for the
first six months on purchases, and 0% interest for the first twelve
months on balance transfers. (A 4% balance transfer fee applies, so
be sure that transferring a balance makes sense before doing it.)
The payment due date is at least 25 days after the closing date of
the billing period.
The real perks, however, are found in its reward system. Discover
More cardholders would be wise to orient themselves to this system,
which, though it can definitely stretch a dollar, might seem confusing
at first. While other reward cards offer cash back of 1% - 3%, sometimes
only on purchases in specific categories such as gasoline, this card
offers 5% back on various categories throughout the entire year, and
up to 1% on all other purchases. These categories change every few
months, and a few have earning caps, so it’s important to take
a look at them to plan your spending. In 2010, the 5% cash back earning
categories and caps are:
January – March: airlines, hotels, car rentals, and cruises
on purchases up to $800 (a savings of up to $40)
March: grocery stores and drug stores on purchases up to $200
($10 savings)
April – June: home improvement stores, department stores,
and clothing stores on purchases up to $400 ($20 savings)
July – September: gas stations, hotels, theme parks, movie
theaters, and movie rentals
October – December: restaurants, departments stores, and
clothing stores
Once a card holder, you must sign up for each category in order to
start earning the 5% cash back. Sign ups start the month before the
categories begin; for example, sign ups for the July – September
promotions begin June 1. Purchases exceeding the cap for 5% cash back
will count towards your regular annual spending.
For purchases not in a 5% cash back category during its earning period,
Discover has a tiered cash back policy, offering up to 1% back. The
first $3,000 spent in a calendar year will earn you .25% back. After
that, these purchases will start earning 1% back. Warehouse purchases
will always earn .25% cash back. Discover does not count warehouse
purchases or 5% cash back category purchases as part of your regular
annual spending.
Though the 5% cash back categories rotate, there is another (and more
consistent) way to earn cash back on the card – up to 20%, depending
on where you shop. The card offers the Shop Discover store, where
you can earn 5% - 20% cash back at any time during the year by making
purchases online. You log into your Discover account, and then visit
retailers’ web sites through your account. Roughly 175 stores
participate, including Target, Sears, Kohl’s, Shutterfly, Macy’s,
iTunes, Dell, Best Buy, Home Depot, hotels.com, PetSmart, and several
cruise lines. Discover says that new retailers continue to be added.
The best feature of this card appears to be in the way cash back can
be redeemed. Cash back earned never expires, and you can start redeeming
once you’ve earned $20. The option exists for an electronic deposit
to be made into your bank account, for a credit to be given to your
Discover account, or for a donation to be made to a charity. However,
the best way to stretch your money is to redeem your cash back for
a gift card to one of over 100 stores or restaurants that you plan
to shop at anyway, because the value of the gift card is more than
you pay for it. For example, you can redeem $20 cash back for a $25
gift card to Pier 1, Staples, Borders, Land’s End, or Banana
Republic, to name a few. The best redemption partners are travel companies.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Carnival Cruise Lines, among others, double
your earnings by giving you a $40 or $80 gift card for half the price.
” If you want to redeem your cash back for gift cards, make sure
that you plan to shop at a participating retailer; otherwise, you
might end up spending more than you had planned because the gift card
convinced you to make a large purchase.
Clearly, the Discover More card requires holders to stay on top of
things – monitoring current 5% cash back retailers and using
them, remembering to make purchases through Shop Discover, and exploring
their options when redeeming cash back. If you don’t mind doing
these things and are excited at the opportunity to receive cash back
on items you plan to buy anyway, and then the Discover More card might
be for you. Complete details and an application can be found by clicking
one of the credit card links at the top
of this page. For those of us needing to stretch our dollars as
far as they can go, this card can be a great option.
The Discover Company: A Credit Card Bank Gives Back
Discover came on the scene in 1986, and has been winning over customers
ever since. With its savvy products and focus on volunteerism, this
company gives back both to the community at large and to its satisfied
customers, who, thanks to Discover, have more money in their pockets.
$26.77. That’s the amount that was charged the first time
a Discover card was used to make a purchase. It was September 17,
1985, and test marketing on the card had begun in Atlanta and San
Diego. The card was launched by Dean Witter Financial Services Group,
Inc., a subsidiary of Sears, Roebuck and Co, and that first purchase
was made at an Atlanta Sears store by an employee of Sears from
the Chicago area. Roughly six months later, during Super Bowl XX,
the nation was introduced to Discover during a commercial break
-- pretty smart timing.
The commercial, entitled "Dawn of Discover," showed the
rising sun, images of American life, and the following message:
"Very few things cost you nothing to get and pay you back every
day. But now the Discover card does." In a time when most credit
cards charged annual fees and none offered cash rewards, Discover
introduced an extremely desirable product to the American public,
offering a card with both cash back rewards and no annual fee.
Since its inception, the company has seen tremendous growth. By
1989, Discover had one million merchants. On March 1, 1993, Dean
Witter, Discover & Co. became an independent publicly traded
company, and the Discover Web site (www.Discover.com) was launched
in September 1995. New products have been introduced over the years,
including Discover Platinum (1998), a credit card that offered more
ways to increase cash back amounts, low balance transfer rates and
APRs, and expanded credit lines and services, all still with no
annual fee; the Discover 2GO card (2002), small enough to be folded
into a protective case and worn on your key chain; mileage and gas
rewards cards (2003); gift cards (2003); and the Discover Business
Card for small business owners (2006). International expansion came
in 1999, when the Morgan Stanley Card was released in the United
Kingdom; relationships with Mexico, China, and Japan followed. Several
mergers, acquisitions, and product name changes later, Discover
Financial Services is still going strong.
The success of this company is most likely based on a combination
of its innovative products, well developed business principles,
and commitment to its employees and the communities in which they
live. The Discover Web site states its vision: “To be the most
rewarding relationship consumers and businesses have with a financial
services company.” Its mission is “To help people spend
smarter, manage debt better and save more so they achieve a brighter
financial future,” and its values, branching off from the letters
D-I-S-C-O-V-E-R, are listed as:
Doing the right thing;
Innovation;
Simplicity;
Collaboration;
Openness;
Volunteerism;
Enthusiasm; and
Respect.
It makes sense that a company genuinely functioning on these principles
would succeed, for, in an age of unbridled spending and debt, it
offers consumers real and practical ways to use their money wisely.
Discover Financial Services states that it believes in being a
good corporate citizen, especially in communities where its employees
live and work, and that it has a special interest in supporting
educational initiatives. Its “You Care, We Share” program
is an umbrella covering several avenues through which the company
gives back. The Employee Giving Program allows employees to donate
money to charities they choose, with Discover matching a portion
of donations to increase the total contributions. In 2008, half
of the employees participated in this program, giving almost $1
million to over 1,600 non-profits.
The Volunteer Recognition Program gives donations to local and
national organizations as a reward for its employees’ volunteer
efforts. Boys and Girls Scouts troops around the country and the
Columbus Metropolitan Library Foundation are among recent donation
recipients. September 2008 was the first Discover Cares month, during
which more than 4,000 employees volunteered thousands of hours to
organizations across the country, working to build playgrounds,
stock food pantries, mentor students, and build a Habitat for Humanity
home. In 2008, 50% of Discover employees participated in the Volunteer
Recognition Program and Discover Cares Month. And in addition to
supporting personal charitable projects, employees participate in
local Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Walks, raising
over $100,000. While Discover initiates most of its charitable work,
organizations that think they might fit well with the company’s
mission statement can learn about grant applications at http://www.discoverfinancial.com/community/donations.shtml.
Discover Cardholders can also participate in the company’s
charitable giving. Several organizations have Cashback Bonus Charitable
Partnerships with Discover: American Red Cross, Children’s
Miracle Network, Junior Achievement, JDRF, Make-A-Wish, Operation
Homefront, and World Wildlife Fund. Instead of personally receiving
their cash back, cardholders can choose to donate that money to
one of these organizations through Discover. The organization that
receives the most money in a year will receive an additional $25,000
from Discover.
One other way Discover Financial Services gives back to the community
is through its scholarship program. High school juniors with a 2.75/4.0
grade point average may apply for a $40,000 scholarship. Up to ten
scholarships are awarded each year, and may be used for any type
of post-high school education or training, certification, licensing,
two- or four-year trade and technical education or a two- or four-year
college degree. More information can be found at http://www.discoverfinancial.com/community/scholarship.shtml.
Though Discover is the new kid on the block in comparison with
other credit card companies, its fan base is loyal. For the 13th
year in a row, the company finished first in the 2010 Brand Keys
Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, showing that its customers have
found a financial services company they want to stick with. (It
actually tied for first this year.)
Discover products are tough to rival. The rewards offered on the
cash back cards are excellent, and the cards continue to carry no
annual fees. A great example is the Discover More card (formerly
Discover Platinum; the name changed in 2007). This card offers 5%
cash back on various categories throughout the year, and up to 1%
back on all other purchases. 5% - 20% cash back can be earned on
purchases made through the online Shop Discover store. When it comes
time to cash in on rewards, trading cash back for gift cards can
earn customers even more; for example, $40 cash back can purchase
a $50 gift card to select stores or restaurants. Discover cards
often offer great balance transfer options with low interest rates
for certain periods of time, allowing customers to save even more
money by eliminating some interest charges of other cards.
Discover also offers personal and student loans, online savings
products, CDs and money market accounts. It has several payment
businesses, including Discover Network, with millions of merchants
and cash access locations; PULSE, an ATM/debit network; and Diners
Club International, which it acquired in 2008. Overall, the products
of this company do seem to work hard to achieve its mission to help
people spend smarter, manage debt better and save more so they achieve
a brighter financial future.
- 0% Intro APR Credit Card Balance Transfer Offers from Discover Financial
Services - FYI: The "Discover Platinum" card is now the "Discover
More" card.