Discover it Chrome Credit Card Review 2024

The Discover it® Chrome’s most attractive feature is its introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers. It offers a 0% intro APR for 6 months on purchases and 18 months on eligible balance transfers followed by a 17.24% - 28.24% variable APR. A balance transfer fee of up to 5% of the amount transferred applies. The intro period is generous, but a few balance transfer cards offer promotional periods of 21 months.

The rewards structure of the Discover it® Chrome includes 2% cash back at gas stations and restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter, automatically. Plus earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases. It has no traditional welcome bonus, but Discover Cashback Match™ doubles all cash back earned at the end of the first year as a cardholder.

With just-okay cash-back rewards, the card’s main saving grace is the first-year cash-back match. As a balance transfer card, the balance transfer fee lacks the pizzazz of lengthier offers on other cards.

• $0 annual fee
• 2% cash back at gas stations and restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter, automatically. Plus earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases
• 0% intro APR for 6 months on purchases and 18 months on eligible balance transfers followed by a 17.24% - 28.24% variable APR. A balance transfer fee of up to 5% of the amount transferred applies
• Discover will automatically match all the cash back earned at the end of the first year as a cardmember. There's no minimum spending or maximum rewards

Earning Rewards

The Discover it® Chrome earns 2% cash back at gas stations and restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter, automatically. Plus earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.

When leveraging the maximum benefit from the 2% bonus categories, cardholders can earn $20 in cash back per quarter, or $80 per year. Discover Cashback Match doubles that for the first year, so that’s a $160 maximum reward from the top earning categories in the first year only.

Redeeming Rewards

One nice perk of the Discover it® Chrome is it’s easy to make cash-back redemptions of any amount at any time. You can use your rewards toward purchases on Amazon.com and PayPal or redeem them for gift cards starting at $5. Rewards never expire and are credited to the account when it is closed.

Rewards Potential

To determine the rewards potential of the Discover it® Chrome we look at the bonus categories and estimate what an average household might spend in those areas. Forbes Advisor uses data from various government agencies to determine baseline income and spending averages across various categories. The 70th percentile of wage-earning households brings in $118,438 annually and has $39,337 in annual spending that can reasonably be charged to credit cards.

With the Discover it® Chrome, you’ll earn 2% cash back at gas stations and restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter, automatically. Plus earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases. If you max out each quarter’s bonus, that equals $80 in cash back each year. At 1% cash back on the remaining purchases, the Discover it® Chrome would earn an additional $383.37 in cash back for a total annual earnings of $463.37 before the Cashback Match.

The Discover it® Chrome offers a 0% intro APR for 6 months on purchases and 18 months on eligible balance transfers followed by a 17.24% - 28.24% variable APR. A balance transfer fee of up to 5% of the amount transferred applies.

• $0 fraud liability: Cardholders aren’t responsible for unauthorized charges.
• Freeze it®: Lock the card from a mobile phone for added security.
• Free Social Security number alerts: Get notified about your Social Security number appearing on the dark web.
• Cashback Match: Discover matches all cash back earned at the end of the first year, dollar for dollar.

Interest Rates

• Regular APR: 17.24% - 28.24% Variable APR
• Purchase intro APR: 0% Intro APR for 6 months
• Balance transfer intro APR: 0% Intro APR for 18 months

Fees

• Annual fee: $0
• Balance transfer fee: 3% intro balance transfer fee, up to 5% fee on future balance transfers (see terms)*
• Foreign purchase transaction fee: None

Discover it® Chrome vs. Discover it® Cash Back

With 5% cash back on everyday purchases at different places each quarter up to a quarterly maximum of $1,500 in spending when activated. Plus, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases – automatically, the Discover it® Cash Back‘s top earning category surpasses the Discover it® Chrome’s best cash back earning potential. Cardholders seeking to maximize cash back earned from the Discover it® Cash Back can earn nearly as much in one quarter what a Discover it® Chrome cardholder would need all year to earn with less than half the spending.

The Discover it® Cash Back offers a 0% introductory APR for 15 months on purchases and eligible balance transfers. Then, a standard rate of 17.24% - 28.24% variable applies. A balance transfer fee of up to 5% of the amount transferred applies. It also has no annual fee. The main reason not to choose the Discover it® Cash Back over the Discover it® Chrome is if the rotating categories aren’t likely to fit your spending patterns.

Discover it® Chrome vs. Citi Double Cash® Card

The Citi Double Cash can be a great choice for a cash back and balance transfer credit card. Earning 2% cash back on all purchases—1% when purchases are made and another 1% when they’re paid off, the Double Cash comes with an intro APR offer of 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 18 months. After that, the standard variable APR will be 19.24% - 29.24%, based on creditworthiness. An intro balance transfer fee of either $5 or 3%, whichever is greater, applies to transfers completed within the first 4 months of account opening. After that, the fee will be 5% of each transfer (minimum $5). It’s the best of both worlds when it comes to flat-rate cash-back rewards and lengthy balance transfers.

Contrast the Discover it® Chrome’s capped rewards and it’s clear just how far below the standard the card sits.

Discover it® Chrome vs. Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard®*

For Walmart shoppers, the Capital One Walmart Rewards Card has the potential to yield better cash back than the Discover it® Chrome. It earns 5% cash back on purchases made at Walmart.com and the Walmart app, including grocery pickup and delivery, 2% cash back on restaurants and travel, and at Walmart Stores, Walmart & Murphy USA fuel stations and 1% back everywhere else. This means spending $1,600 at Walmart.com on the Capital One Walmart Rewards card will yield the same amount of cash back that you’d get meeting the maximum earning cap on the Discover it® Chrome’s 2% earning at gas stations and restaurants for all four quarters in a year without the first-year Cashback Match.

The Walmart Rewards card has no introductory 0% APR period, though, so the Discover it® Chrome is definitely better suited for a balance transfer use.

The best use of the Discover it® Chrome is as a balance transfer card. The Discover it® Chrome balance transfer offer could help cardholders buy a little extra time to pay down debt, but there are cards out there with longer intro APR periods. Also, the card’s cash-back rewards earnings can easily be surpassed by other cash-back cards. Overall, the Discover it® Chrome is shiny plastic without super shiny benefits.

Forbes Advisor considers a variety of criteria when assigning credit cards a rating. Cards are graded based on numerous factors including:

• Annual fees
• Welcome bonus offers
• Ongoing earning rates
• Value of individual points or miles
• Additional cardholder benefits

Card features we expect cardholders to use the most often are weighted more heavily in our ratings. Altogether, the factors came together to provide a star rating for each individual card.

Read more: How Forbes Advisor Rates Credit Cards