Today, Discover answered questions about the future of their credit cards.
Discover plans to continue the popular “double promotion” through at least the rest of this quarter. And it was implied this promotion might continue even further into 2016. I’ll explain how it works in a moment!
It sounds like Discover will NOT attempt to compete with other banks by offering big sign-up bonuses. And they will not offer lucrative bonuses in partnership with airlines and hotels.
For New Applicants, You’ll Still Be Able to Profit From Discover It Doubling Your Cash Back. They Will Extend the Promotion Through at Least the End of This Quarter
I’ll let you know more about Discover’s plans and how the Double Promotion puts extra money in your pocket.
Discover Is Delighted to Double Your Cash and Miles
Link: Discover It®
Link: Discover it® Miles
You can currently earn $50 cash back when you apply for the Discover it and make a purchase within the first 3 months of opening your account.
The Double Promotion for Discover It® is that new cardholders get their cash back doubled after the 12th billing cycle.
And for new cardholders of Discover it® Miles, the miles you’ve earned are doubled at the end of your first 12 billing cycles. There is no sign-up bonus.
Discover says the Double Promotion has been very effective for them. To me, that sounds like it’s going to stick around awhile!
That’s good news for those of y’all who signed-up within the last year (or those who will sign-up during the promotion) and like to spend in the rotating 5X categories.
Because the 5% cash back is doubled at the end of your first 12 billing cycles!
Another Amazing Apple Pay Promotion Later This Year?
Discover hinted they may have special promotions later this year. But Discover did NOT indicate whether or not they plan to have the very lucrative Apple Pay promotion again.
Discover’s upcoming promotions could be for balance transfers or something other than a big sign-up bonus. But I’m hoping it’s Apple Pay or something similar. 
Competing With Freedom
Link: Chase Freedom
Discover expressed that they’re happy with the Discover it model of 5% cash back on purchases in rotating categories along with 1% cash back on other purchases.
The Chase Freedom has a similar rewards model. But the Freedom currently offers 15,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points (worth $150 cash back) when you spend $500 in the first 3 months of opening your account. This is much better than the $50 sign-up bonus from Discover it (or $0 for Discover it Miles)!
What’s more, is that when you pair the Freedom card with the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Ink Plus, or Ink Bold, you can transfer the Chase Ultimate Rewards points you’ve earned to Chase’s terrific partners like United Airlines, Hyatt, and Southwest.
Discover doesn’t seem to have plans to offer this kind Big Travel potential.
Innovative Perks
Aside from promotions, Discover feels they can compete by offering helpful tools. They cited their online Freeze option. This can help you eliminate fraud when you lose your card by immediately disallowing the use of all your cards.
They also used free FICO scores as an example.
I’m not overly excited about either because other cards offer similar perks. But…perhaps Discover has something new in the works that will set their cards apart.
Bottom Line
Discover let folks know they plan to continue the current Double Promotion through at least the end of this quarter.
When you sign-up for a new Discover it card, you’ll have the cash back you’ve earned doubled at the end of your first 12 billing cycles. And when you sign-up for a new Discover it Miles card, they will double your miles at the end of your first 12 billing cycles.
Discover also said they have NO plans to offer a big sign-up bonus. Drat!
Discover it is a good card for cash back. But I greatly prefer the Chase Freedom because it has a $150 welcome bonus after you meet the minimum spending. And you can pair it with the Chase Sapphire Preferred to transfer points to travel partners for Big Travel with Small Money.
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