You don’t often come across a secured credit card that boasts no annual fee, a rewards program, and a sign-on bonus, but that’s exactly what you get with the Discover it® Secured Credit Card.
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Quick Review
The Discover it® Secured Credit Card provides a 2% Cashback Bonus® on qualified gas station and restaurant purchases, up to $1,000 in combined spending per quarter. This means you’ll get $20 back for each $1,000 you spend every 3 months, or up to $80 per year.
The card also provides 1% cash back on all other transactions, with no limit on how much you can earn.
Because of these cashback rewards, the Discover it® Secured Credit Card goes above and beyond what most other secured credit cards offer.
Additionally, to welcome all new cardholders, Discover will match all cashback rewards for the first year. This means that whatever you earn in cash back in your first year will be doubled.
If you have a bad credit score or insufficient credit history, you can easily apply for a Discover it® Secured Credit Card with a minimum deposit of $200—granting you a credit limit equal to the amount you put down.
With perks that rival the best unsecured credit cards, it’s easy to see why the Discover it® Secured Credit Card is our top choice in the following categories:
- Best Secured Credit Cards
- Best Credit Cards for Bad Credit
- Best Credit Cards for No Credit
- Best First Credit Cards
- Best Gas Cards for Bad Credit
Discover it® Secured Credit Card: Important Details
Basic Card Details
- Annual fee: $0
- Deposit: $200
- Intro offer: 2% cash back on gas and restaurant purchases up to $1,000 combined each quarter, and 1% unlimited cash back on all other qualified purchases.
- Regular APR: 24.49% (variable)
- APR for balance transfers: 10.99% intro APR for 6 months from date of first transfer, for transfers that post to your account by July 10, 2022. After the intro APR expires, your APR will be 22.99%. This APR will vary with the market based on the prime rate (the lowest interest rate on offer, which lenders base all of their other rates on).
- APR for cash advances: 24.49% (variable)
- Balance transfer fee: Intro fee of 3% of the amount of each transfer, and 5% upon offer expiration
- Cash advance fee: Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
Additional Information
- Discover will report your credit history to all three major credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.
- Eligible accounts can automatically qualify for an upgrade to an unsecured credit card after seven months.
- View your FICO credit score each month for free.
- Access to Discover® Identity Alerts monitors your Experian® credit report daily—providing alerts any time a new inquiry is posted or your Social Security number is found online.
- Access to Discover’s Freeze it® security service for when you lose your card.
- $0 fraud liability guarantee on all unauthorized purchases.
Discover it® Secured Credit Card: Feature Breakdown
In this section we’ll look at some of the Discover it® Secured Credit Card’s most notable features.
Fees
If you’ve ever shopped for a new credit card, you’ve likely noticed that many require an annual fee. As the name suggests, this is a yearly charge by a card issuer to a cardholder for the use of their credit card. Some secured cards will even deduct the annual fee directly from your deposit, which reduces the spending limit available to you unless you repay it.
The Discover it® Secured Credit Card has no annual fee, meaning you don’t have to worry about surprise costs at the end of the year simply for keeping your account open.
Interest Rates
Unfortunately, the high annual percentage rate (APR) of the Discover it® Secured Credit Card is a knock against it. At a 24.49% (variable) rate, you’ll want to make sure you keep your account balance as low as possible and never miss a payment.
The balance transfer APR of this card does come with an introductory offer of 10.99% for the first 6 months of the transfer. This makes the Discover it® Secured Credit Card a reasonable choice for anyone considering transferring debt from a previous credit card to this one.
Security Deposit
Your security deposit is equal to your spending limit, or credit limit. This is the maximum amount of money that you can charge to your credit card.
To open a Discover it® Secured Credit Card, you’ll have to make a minimum deposit of $200. This amount is fully refundable and while it isn’t the lowest minimum deposit for a secured card that we’ve seen, it’s still reasonable.
Depending on your income and ability to make monthly payments, you can increase your credit limit up to $2,500. Keep in mind that this still requires an equal security deposit to be approved for that amount.
Getting your deposit back
Your security deposit is refundable as long as your credit accounts are in good standing. However, Discover requires all of your credit accounts to have remained in “good status” to receive your deposit—whether the account is with them or not.
Discover will check your credit report to verify that no repossessions, bankruptcies, charge-offs, or delinquencies have been posted to your credit report in the past six months before refunding your deposit.
Additionally, after an automatic seven-month review of your account, Discover may qualify you for an upgrade to a standard unsecured credit card. If you’re approved and accept the upgrade, your Discover it® Secured Credit Card security deposit will be returned to you once all of your payment obligations have been fulfilled and your new card has been issued.
Pre-approval
Many issuers of secured credit cards claim that they do not check your credit or otherwise take your credit score into account when you apply.
Discover, however, will perform a credit check during the application process. If you don’t want Discover to perform a hard inquiry and hurt your credit score, you can request pre-approval. You can successfully be approved without having a credit score or prior credit history, but you may be rejected if you have a history of delinquencies and mismanagement of previous credit accounts.
Rewards
2% limited Cashback Bonus on select categories
The most enticing Discover it® Secured Credit Card feature, and the primary reason we recommend this card so highly, is its rewards program.
With Discover’s Cashback Bonus®, you can earn 2% on your first $1,000 combined gas station and restaurant purchases each quarter for the first year. While that might sound confusing, it’s actually pretty advantageous for frequent commuters or take-out enjoyers.
Essentially, you’ll receive 2% cashback rewards on qualifying purchases at the end of each billing cycle. You can use these rewards to:
- Pay your minimum payments on your card account
- Make a deposit to your checking or savings account
- Purchase gift cards
- Redeem offers at select merchants listed on Discover’s website
- Donate to charity
Gas stations and restaurants must have the appropriate merchant category code (MCC) in order to be considered qualified purchases. While most cafes, fast-food, and sit-down restaurants are easy enough to recognize, gas stations can be harder to classify. According to Discover’s own rewards program terms and conditions, gas stations “affiliated with supermarkets, supercenters, and wholesale clubs may not be eligible.”
1% unlimited Cashback Bonus on all other purchases
In addition to 2% cash back on gas station and restaurant purchases, Discover it® Secured Credit Card customers are eligible for 1% cash back on all other purchases. This rate doesn’t expire and is yours to accumulate over the life of your credit account.
Cashback match
For the first year after opening a Discover it® Secured Credit Card, you’ll receive two times the cash back that you’ve accumulated over that year with Discover’s Unlimited Cashback Match.
Say you’ve earned $200 in cashback bonuses over the year. Discover will offer you an additional $200 and add it to your rewards account. However, it won’t count towards any rewards that you’ve already capitalized on—only the amount currently unused in your rewards account will be considered for this intro offer.
Building Credit
An important aspect of building your credit score is having your credit accounts reported to the three main credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.
Discover reports to credit bureaus each month—making it an ideal card for individuals wondering how to build credit.
Because your information will be reported to each agency, it’s important to keep up on your monthly payments so your credit score can continue to improve. Having a good credit score opens up the possibility of applying for even better credit cards and loans in the future.
Auto-upgrade
Once your account has been active for seven months, Discover will begin an automatic review of your payment history and general creditworthiness.
Once you’ve built up a good credit history and are deemed eligible, you’ll be offered an upgrade to an unsecured credit card with Discover. Unsecured credit cards typically feature better interest rates and reward opportunities and are generally easier to manage in terms of your credit utilization—a determining factor in your credit score—because of the higher credit limits available.
Customer Service
According to the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study, Discover ranks second in customer satisfaction among national credit card issuers. They also carry a 4.7 out of 5.0 average customer rating based on customer reviews on their website.
Their US-based customer service center provides 24/7 support via their website and mobile app.
Should You Get the Discover it® Secured Credit Card?
FinanceJar Verdict
In our opinion, the Discover it® Secured Credit Card is an excellent credit card for anyone who has had difficulty applying for a traditional credit card. If your credit score has room to improve and you’re focused on building or rebuilding your credit, consider the Discover it® Secured Credit Card.
Who is this card for?
- Credit builders: Having a poor credit score in today’s world can be difficult. You may have trouble renting an apartment or taking out a loan. The Discover it® Secured Credit Card can help you build your credit up by reporting your positive payment history to all three credit bureaus.
- Commuters: With 2% cash back on qualifying gas station purchases, anybody that finds themselves frequently on the road can offset the cost of their trips with this card.
- Reward seekers: Unlike other secured cards, the Discover it® Secured Credit Card offers plenty of opportunities to earn rewards.
Comparable Cards
Check out how the Discover it® Secured Credit Card compares to similar card options.
Discover it® Secured vs. Capital One Platinum Secured
In a head-to-head comparison of rewards rates, the Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card can’t compete with the Discover it® Secured Credit Card, as it doesn’t offer any rewards program. However, if you can’t afford Discover’s $200 minimum deposit, then the Capital One Platinum Secured might be for you, with a minimum deposit as low as $49.
Discover it® Secured vs. Discover it® Student Cash Back
Both of these cards issued by Discover are great picks for the best starter credit cards with their high cashback rewards and no annual fees. The Discover it® Student Cash Back Credit Card beats the Discover it® Secured with its extremely attractive 5% cashback rate on everyday purchases throughout the school year. Unfortunately, this card is only available to active students, which means it’s not an option for everyone.
Discover it® Secured vs Petal® 2 “Cash Back, No Fees” Visa® Credit Card
The Petal® 2 “Cash Back, No Fees” Visa® Credit Card offers similar features to the Discover it® Secured Credit Card. Both cards boast $0 annual fees and a 1% cashback rewards rate on most everyday purchases.
Where the Petal® 2 card stands out is the additional perk of no fees whatsoever: no foreign transaction fees, no cash advance or balance transfer fees, and no late fees. Discover it® Secured Credit Cards, on the other hand, charge penalty and transaction fees.
