After being held down by the credit card companies for years, I have decided to take back control and use credit cards to earn rewards.  There are many great rewards cards out there in order to help you earn cash back, airline miles, merchandise, and much more.  I recently just started using the American Express Blue Cash Preferred credit card.  This is my second cash back credit card, but I am thinking about getting another one.  I want to be able rotate my rewards based on my spending habits at the time.  For this reason, I am looking into the new Discover it® credit card.

Discover has had a rewards card before, but the Discover it® card is their game changer.  It has many of the great features of Chase, Capital One, and Citi.  If you have had a Discover card before, then you may already know that they have decided to scrap all of their other rewards cards, like the Discover More card, and are just going with this one card.  This shows how much muscle they want to put behind this card.  Let’s start digging into this card and it’s features.

Here are the general features of Discover’s new it® card:

• The new Discover it card is out to change the way people think about credit cards.
• Fair – No annual fee. No overlimit fee. No foreign transaction fee & no pay-by-phone fee. No late fee on your first late payment. And we won’t increase your APR for paying late.*
• Generous – Cashback Bonus on up to $1,500 in purchases at Home Improvement Stores now through June with free and easy sign-up. And 1% cash back on all other purchases.*
• Plus a Cashback Concierge(SM) who guides a free, personalized online tour to help you get the most rewards for how you use your card.
• Flexible – Choose your own due date and pay up to midnight ET online or by phone.
• Human – talk to a real person any time with 100% U.S.-based service.
• Safe – Because you’ll never pay for unauthorized purchases with our $0 Fraud Liability Guarantee.
• 0% Intro APR* on purchases and balance transfers for 14 months. Then the variable purchase APR applies, currently 10.99% – 22.99%. *Click apply for Terms & Conditions.

* And get unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases* at over 8 million merchants nationwide (Nielsen Report, Feb 2013)

All of these are great features, but the ones that stick out to me are the no over limit fee, no foreign transaction fee, along with the late payment forgiveness.  You don’t find these at most of the other companies, so if you have made a mistake before when paying your credit card and you pay late, Discover will not punish you for the first mistake.

Another feature that many other people have noted when talking about this card is the 100% US based customer service.  Many other cards have outsourced their customer service to other countries, but Discover wants you to know that they are not only creating US based jobs, but they are taking customer service seriously.  If you are in need of customer service and want to speak to someone in the US, then this card is for you.

If you have questions about Discover’s acceptance, you will be happy to know that Discover is currently accepted by over 8 million merchants (February 12 Nielson report).  If you have any concerns, then you can use this card as your secondary cash back card.  This is one reason why I want to have multiple cash back rewards credit cards.

 5% Cash Back Categories

Discover it® has jumped on board with the rotating category rewards structure.  You can earn 5% cash back on a quarterly rotating list of purchase categories.  Their categories have different spending limits, so for the current quarter January through March, you can earn 5% cash back on purchases up to $1,500 at restaurants and movies.  After the $1,500, you will earn 1% on the rest of your purchases.  Discover allows you to sign up for the rewards for free before each quarter.  You have to sign up in order to get the rewards.  Here are the dates that the new categories will be announced.

• April – June announced on February 1st
• July – September announced on May 1st
• October – December announced on August 1st
• January – March announced on November 1st

Since I have been looking for another great cash back card, I am happy that Discover has stepped up their reward structure and put themselves on the forefront of cash back credit cards.  My goal is to apply for the Discover it® card before the end of the first quarter.  If you are in need of a great cash back card and want to be backed by awesome service, then check out the Discover it® cash back credit card.