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The Discover Student Card was last reviewed on 20th December 2007
Summary - We recommend the Discover Student credit card to students looking for both a cash rebate and reward card because
You can earn 5% cash rebates from purchases at selected merchantsYou can double the value of your cash rebates by exchanging them for a gift certificates or gift cardsIt has a lower apr than most other student credit cards
Let us look at this card in greater detail.
Rebate Formula - The Discover Card for Student allows you to earn cash rebates. You can earn 1% rebate once your annual expenditure on your card exceeds $3,000. Your first $1,500 in purchases earn .25% and your second $1,500 in purchases earn .50%. Purchases made at select warehouse clubs, discount stores and their affiliates earn .25%. You can earn up to $500 in rebates in year.
5% Cash Rebate for purchases at Get More Purchase Partners - You can earn 5% cash rebate on Discover's Get More Purchase program. Under this program, shopping at various retailers will enable you to get a 5% cash rebate. The present retailers under this scheme are Ace Hardware, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Lowes, Menard, Restoration Hardware, SHERWIN-WILLIAMS, Smith & Hawken, The Container Store, The Home Depot, Gap, Kohl's, Marshalls®, T.J.Maxx®, Famous Footwear™, Dell™, Office Depot®, OfficeMax®, Staples, Linens 'n Things®, Pier 1 Imports®, and on tuition.
Double Your Cash Back Bonus - Probably the best feature of all Discover cards is that you can exchange your cash rebates for double the value in gift certificates of up to 60 merchant partners. That is equivalent to a 2% in rebates. (ie. if you are entitled to $20 in cash rebates, you can redeem a $40 gift certificate with a partner merchant). Below is a table highlighting the various categories and 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®
Shop Discover Card - The Shop Discover is another great feature of all Discover cards. When you use your Discover card to shop at partner merchants from Discover's website, you will get discounts. Below is a sample of what you may get
Barnes and Nobles - 7% cash back
Overstock.com - 5% discount
FTD.com - 20% cash back or discount.
Annual Fee and APR - There is no annual fee for the Discover Card for Student. The APR presently is at 16.99% . The Discover Student Card also uses the 2-cycle average daily balance method of calculating balance. New cardholders also get a 0% introductory apr for six months on purchases.
Verdict - The Discover Student credit card is one of the best shopping reward credit cards around. The cash rebate formula is tiered and frankly speaking, not impressive. But Discovers' plus points outweigh this. Firstly, you can earn up to 5% cash back with different "GET MORE" partners each month. Secondly, you can get more than the value of the cash rebates you have earned (up to double) by exchanging them for gift certificates of partner merchants.
Thirdly, ShopDiscover.com allows you to get discounts for popular merchants. Lastly, the Discover® Student Card has a lower apr by one percentage point than most student credit card.
Different Designs - Discover Cards have over 150
designs to choose from. Below are just a sample of two popular choices.
Positives
Earn 5% cash rebates from Get More Purchase merchantsDouble your value of cash rebates by exchanging them for gift certificates or cardsNo annual fee
Negatives
Tiered cash rebate structureUses the two-cycle average daily balance method
| Rebate Percentages |
Earn 5% rebate from purchases from Get More Purchase merchants
Earn 1% rebate on purchases when annual expenditure on credit card exceeds $3,000.
Earn only 0.25% for purchases at select warehouse clubs, discount stores and their affiliates |
| Rebate Limits |
$500 |
Online account access
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| Annual Fee |
No annual fee |
| Purchase APR |
16.99% |
| Balance Transfer APR |
16.99% |
| Cash Advance APR |
23.99% |
| Penalty/Default Rate APR |
29.99% |
| Min Finance Charge |
$0.50 |
| Grace Period |
25 days |
| Balance Calculation Method |
Average Daily Balance (including new purchases) |
| 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 either the Discover® Student Card.
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