Review of Discover® Motiva Card

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Editor's Rating: 4.0/5.0
Update - This card is not being offered anymore by Discover. It has been replaced by the IT Card instead. A card that actually rewards you if you carry a balance and pay your bills on time for six consecutive months. It works by paying you a cash back based on that sixth month finance charges. It also comes with the perks that other Discover cards have like the online shopping portal shopdiscover.com and also the ability to exchange the cash back you earn for a higher value via gift cards. A 0% deal for 15 months also make this card attractive for those who carry a balance.
Intro Purchase APR Regular APR Intro Balance Transfer Annual Fee Issuer Credit Needed
N.A. $0* Discover Excellent
Feature Summary
  • Earn Cashback Bonus for your good credit managment
  • 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 14 months, then the variable purchase APR of 10.99% - 20.99%*
  • Up to 20% Cashback Bonus at popular online retailers when you shop through Discover.com
  • Discover is ranked #1 in customer loyalty--16 years in a row! (2012 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index report)
  • 24/7 access to a U.S.-based Account Manager within 60 seconds
  • $0 Fraud Liability. You're never responsible for unauthorized charges on your Discover card account, plus mobile and email fraud alert options
  • Great rewards with no annual fee, no rewards redemption fee, and no additional card fee
  • *Click apply to view rates, fees, rewards, limitations and other important information

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 More 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.

Fees and Rates - The Discover Motiva Card has no annual fee*. The APR ranges from 10.99%* to 20.99%* (variable rate). You also get a 0% Intro APR* on balance transfer for 14 months for balance transfer and 14 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 rebates
  • No annual fee
  • 25 day grace period for purchases
  • Earn unlimited rebates
  • Pay-on-time bonus