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The Discover Gold Card was last reviewed on : 5th March 2005
Summary - The Discover Gold Card is actually a cash rebate
credit card. The cash rebate is based on every $2,000 that you spend on the credit card.
For every $2,000 you spend up to $6,000, you will get $20.00 rebate (ie 1% rebate percentage). For every $2,000
spent above $6,000, you get $10.00 cash rebate (ie 0.5%). You are earn up to $500 in cash rebates
in a year (ie spending of up to $94,000). If you do spend $94,000 on the Discover Gold
Card, your annual cash rebate percentage turns out to be 0.0532%.
Fees and Rates - There is no annual fee and apr at prime rate plus 8.49% is high. There is a 0% introductory APR on balance transfers for 12 months. The Discover Gold Card has a low minimum finance charge of $0.50 and a grace period of at least 25 days (more than the usual 20 days in most other cards). However, the Discover Gold Card uses the 2-cycle average daily balance method (including new purchases) of computing balances. This will less favourable to those who carry a balance, but are looking to reduce it over time.
Verdict - To sum up, the Discover Gold Card offers a tiered cash rebate program based on annual expenditures, in which rebate percentage declines from 1% to 0.5% once expenditures exceed $6,000. I would not recommend this card at all.
Update - The Discover Gold Card is no longer being offered by Discover Bank. We suggest you consider the Discover Platinum Card instead as it has better rebate and reward features.
Positives
No annual fee25 day grace period
Negatives
Rebate declines as annual spending exceeds $6,000Uses 2-cycle average daily balance method to calculate monthly balances
| Rebate Percentages |
Reward program is based on every $2,000 of expenditure annually.
Earn 1% rebate on purchases of every $2,000 up to $6000
Thereafter, earn rebate at 0.5% for every $2,000 spent after annual expenditure exceeds $6,000 |
| Rebate Limits |
$500 |
| Credit Limit |
Up to $50,000 |
$250,000 in travel insurance
$25,000 in auto rental insurance |
Online account access
24 hour cardholder service |
| Introductory rate |
0% introductory APR on balance transfers for 12 months |
| Annual Fees |
No annual fee |
| Purchase APR |
Prime Rate plus 8.49% |
| Balance Transfer APR |
Prime Rate plus 8.49% |
| Cash Advance APR |
20.99% |
| Penalty/Default Rate APR |
Prime Rate plus 10.99%, 15.99% or 19.99% |
| Min Finance Charge |
$0.50 |
| Grace Period |
25 days |
| Balance Calculation Method |
2-cycle Average Daily Balance (including new purchases) |
| Cash Advance fee |
3% min $5.00 |
| Over-the-credit-limit fee |
$15.00 - $1000 or less
$35.00 - greater than $1000 |
| Late Payment fee |
$15.00 - up to $100
$25.00 - $100-$1000
$39.00 - greater than $1000 |
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