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Review of the Discover Motiva Card
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The Discover Motiva Card was last reviewed on 20th December 2007
Summary - The Discover® Motiva Card is an improvement over the regular Discover More Card (formerly Discover Platinum Card). In addition to the features offered by the Discover Platinum Card, the Motiva Card will give cardholders a cash bonus if you pay your minimum bills for six consecutive months. The bonus you will get will be the finance charges the following month after six consecutive of on time monthly payments. Let's explore this card in further detail.
Pay-On-Time Bonus - The Motiva Card has a
Pay-On-Time Bonus which works like this. If you pay on time
the minimum payment for six consecutive months, on the
following month, you will get a bonus that is equal to that
months finance charges. So essentially twice a year, you can
earn a pay-on-time bonus and get back two months of finance charges.
Rebate Formula - In addition to The Discover Motiva Card is a tiered cash back credit card. You can potentially earn up to 2% rebate. Here is how it works. The tiered cash back formula is based on your annual expenditure. For the first $1,500 in annual expenditure, you earn 0.25%. For the next $1,500 in annual expenditure (ie $1,500 to $3,000), you earn 0.50% rebate. Once your annual expenditures exceed $3,000, you earn 1% rebate. You can earn unlimited rebates which do not expire.
5% to 20% Discount on Discover's Online Store - Cardholders can also get discounts (5% to 20%) on shop discover online.
Double the value of your rebates - The other great feature of the Discover Motiva Card is that you can up to double the value of the cash rebates you have earned by exchanging them for the 60+ merchant partners gift certificate. That means that a $20.00 rebate can turn into a $40.00 gift certificate. Below is the list of their present partners.
Restaurants Bennigan's Black Angus/Cattle Company Steakhouse Bonanza Steakhouse Buca di Beppo Chili's Grill & Bar® Maggiano's Little Italy® On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina® Ponderosa Steakhouse Red Lobster Romano's Macaroni Grill® Steak & Ale
Home Ace Hardware Bed Bath & Beyond® Bedroom Expressions Big City Chefs Callaway Golf Cooking.com Crutchfield Denver Mattress Co. Furniture Row Outlet K B Toys Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet™ Grills Lawn-Boy Oak Express Pep Boys Pier 1 Imports The Sharper Image® Sofa Mart Sprint Staples®
Entertainment AMC Theatres® BLOCKBUSTER® BLOCKBUSTER Online® Borders Books & Music® Fandango Great American Days Hollywood Video Reader's Digest TicketsNow.com Waldenbooks®
Gifts Ethel M Chocolates FTD.COM® Lobster Gram® M&M's World Mrs. Fields Omaha Steaks
Travel Carnival® Cruise Lines Celebrity Cruises® Enterprise Rent-A-Car Holland America Hyatt® Hotels & Resorts Norwegian Cruise Line Princess Cruises Royal Caribbean® International Samsonite® Company Stores
Electronic Certificates Big City Chefs BLOCKBUSTER Online® Callaway Golf Cooking.com Crutchfield Enterprise Rent-A-Car FTD.COM® Fandango Great American Days Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet™ Grills L.L. Bean Mrs. Fields Omaha Steaks Ultra Diamond Outlet
Charities American Red Cross Junior Achievement Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Make-A-Wish Foundation®
Fees and Rates - The Discover More Card has no annual fee. The APR ranges from
10.99% to 18.99%. You also get a 3.9% APR on balance transfer for 12 months for balance transfer and 6 months for purchases. The grace period on purchases is 25 days, more than the standard 20 days used by most credit cards. The average daily balance method is used to calculate monthly balances.
Important Discover Card Features - Discover Cards allow you to download your credit card statements to Quicken and Microsoft's Money. You can also change your statement bill due date to match your other credit cards.
Verdict - I think the Discover® Motiva Card is a great card for those who carry a balance and pay on time. That is because twice a year, you will get the pay-on-time bonus which equals two months of finance charges. You also get all the benefits of the Discover cash back program and the ability to exchange cash rebates for a higher value in gift cards.
Positives Up to double the value of your rebatesNo annual fee25 day grace period for purchasesEarn unlimited rebatesPay-on-time bonus
| Discover Motiva Card |
| Reward Benefits |
| Rebate Percentages |
Tiered rebate system Earn 0.25% rebate for annual expenditures up to $1,500 Earn 0.50% rebate for annual expenditure between $1,500 and $3,000 Earn 1% rebates once annual spending exceeds $3,000 |
| Credit Limit |
Up to $50,000 |
| Cost/Fees/Interest rates |
| Introductory rate |
3.99% introductory APR on balance transfers for 12 months 3.99% intorductory APR on purchase for 6 months |
| Annual Fee |
No annual fee |
| Purchase APR |
10.99% to 18.99% |
| Balance Transfer APR |
10.99% to 18.99% |
| Cash Advance APR |
20.99% to 23.99% |
| Penalty/Default Rate APR |
Up to 28.99% |
| Min Finance Charge |
$0.50 |
| Grace Period |
25 days |
| Balance Calculation Method |
Average daily balance (including new purchases) |
| Balance Transfer fee |
3.00% for each balance transfer made under this offer, with a minimum of $10 and a maximum of $75. |
| Cash Advance fee |
3% min $5.00 |
| Over-the-credit-limit fee |
$15 on balances up to $500, and $39 on balances over $500. |
| Late Payment fee |
$19 on balances up to $250 and $39 on balances over $250. |
Apply for the Discover® Motiva Card
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