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

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)

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