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Discover it® Cash Back welcome bonus: $100 through referral links, plus double rewards your first year

Discover it® Cash Back card art
Discover it® Cash Back

The Discover it® Cash Back card will double all of the cash back you earn in the first year of being a cardmember, but if you apply through a referral link, you can earn an extra $100 statement credit.

Here are the welcome offers you’ll see on the card:

  • The friend referral bonus will give you a $100 statement credit after your first purchase, in addition to doubled cash back in your first year.
  • The offer through Discover’s website and affiliate links will only give you double cash back during the first year. You’ll miss out on a $100 statement credit if you apply through these channels.

Here’s what you need to know about the current welcome offers on the Discover it® Cash Back card.

Referral bonus: $100 statement credit + double cash back offer

If you apply for the Discover it® Cash Back card through a friend-referral link, you will get a $100 statement credit after your first purchase in addition to getting your cash back rewards doubled in the first year. This offer bests the affiliate and direct offers because of the $100 statement credit, which you won’t get through the other offers.

Our referral link is below, but if you have a friend with the card, applying through your friend’s link can get them a $100 statement credit as well. Here’s our referral link:

Discover it® Cash Back welcome offer: $100 statement credit + double cash back in your first year. (Annual fee: $0)

Discover it® Cash Back card art

Get a $100 statement credit when you’re approved and use the card within the first three months. Plus, get all of your cash back doubled in your first year of having the card. Get this welcome bonus.

The $100 statement credit after approval is an easy welcome bonus, even if it is smaller than other easy welcome bonuses. More interesting is the doubled cash back in the first year of having the card which turns the cards 5% rotating categories into 10% rotating categories.

5% cash back in rotating categories. (More in our card review.)

This is a referral link. All information about Discover it® Cash Back has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.

One question that comes up frequently about the referral bonus is whether the $100 you get from applying through a referral link is also doubled at the end of the first year. Unfortunately, since the $100 credit is earned as a statement credit, it won’t be doubled at the end of your first year.

Direct and affiliate applications: Double cash back in the first year, but no welcome bonus

When you apply for the Discover it® Cash Back card through Discover’s website directly, you’ll miss out on the $100 bonus after your first purchase. This lower offer is the same offer you’ll see on sites that have Discover affiliate links. For this reason, we recommend you apply through a referral link, either the one on our site or through a friend’s link.

My take on the Discover it® Cash Back welcome bonus

If you’re into 5% rotating category cards, the Discover it® Cash Back is an essential card to have in your wallet. $100 after your first purchase is one of the easiest cash back welcome bonuses to get. However, that’s only a fraction of the value you can get from the card in your first year.

The most interesting part of the card’s welcome bonus is that the doubled cash back effectively turns the card into a 10% rotating category card during the first year. We update our post on the Discover 5% categories each quarter. Visit that post to get an idea of what could be featured over the next year if you’re thinking of getting the card.

Unfortunately, outside of the card’s 5% categories, the card ends up being pretty uninteresting. It offers only 1% cash back on your other purchases. Even when that’s doubled in your first cardmember year, it only matches what you’d get with a 2% cash back card.

My verdict: Get the card for its 5% rotating categories. If you maximize rewards in two quarters over your first year, you’ll get $150 in marginal rewards from the first year cash back match and $100 if you apply through an affiliate link, making the “welcome bonus” worth about $250.

A few notes on applying for Discover credit cards

  • You can have as most two credit cards issued by Discover at the same time. You can have only one student card.
  • Your first account must be opened for a year before Discover will issue you a second credit card.
  • You can get welcome bonuses for Discover cards if you have had the same card in the past.
  • Discover reports business credit cards to the personal credit bureaus. Keep this in mind if you are trying to stay under 5/24 for Chase applications.
  • You can check the application status of your Discover card application online, at Discover’s website.

Frequently asked questions

Does Discover it® have a bonus?

Discover cards double your rewards in the first year of card membership. If you apply through a referral link, you can get a $100 statement credit after your first purchase with the Discover it® Cash Back card.

How many Discover credit cards can you have?

You can have at most two Discover credit cards. If you already have a Discover credit card, you must wait 12 months after opening your first card before Discover will approve a second card.

Can you get two Discover it® cards?

Yes. Discover allows you to get two of the same credit card.

About the author

  • Photo of Aaron Hurd, credit card and travel rewards expert.

    Aaron Hurd is a credit card, travel rewards, and loyalty program expert. Over the past 15 years, he has authored over a thousand expert contributions published by leading outlets including WSJ, TIME, Newsweek, Forbes, NerdWallet, The Points Guy, Bankrate, CNET, and many others. He has also served in consulting roles for many of these same outlets, designing content strategy, hiring teams of teams of editors and contributors, developing thought-leadership pieces, and ghost-editing for senior editors. Aaron is well-known in the miles and points community and regularly presents about travel rewards at conferences like the Chicago Seminars and Minnebar. Aaron has enjoyed the game of optimizing credit card rewards since getting his first credit card shortly after he turned 18. He started learning about credit cards and travel rewards from the (now defunct) FatWallet Finance forums and FlyerTalk. He holds more than 40 open credit cards and has first-hand experience with almost every major credit card product.

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