How does the Discover it referral system work?

The Discover it referral system is an easy way to earn as much as $1,000 in extra rewards each year. All you need is a referral link, which only takes a few minutes to get, plus some friends or family members who are interested in opening a new credit card account.

Here’s how to get a Discover it referral bonus:

1. Go to Discover's website. 
2. Log into your Discover account.
3. Enter your referrals’ email addresses or share your referral link on social media.

That’s it! You will receive $50 cash back or 5,000 miles, depending on the type of rewards your card offers, for every person who uses your referral link to get a Discover credit card. Five discontinued offers aren’t involved in the referral program: Discover® Business Cashback Credit Card, Discover® Business Miles Credit Card, Essential by Discover®, Escape by Discover® Credit Card and Miles by Discover®. But all eight Discover it cards are eligible. And you can get referral bonuses for up to 10 people per year.

That means you can earn up to $500 (50,000 miles) per year from referrals alone. That’s like a great initial bonus every single year. But you need to know a lot of people who are in the market for a new credit card.

Fortunately, there’s a lot to like about Discover cards, so it should be a pretty easy sell. Plus, each individual you refer will also get $50 or 5,000 miles if he or she makes a single purchase within three months of account opening.

If you login, you can either type up the person's email, or just send a referral link over Twitter or something.

You get a $50 statement credit whenever you refer a friend and they become a cardmember. Your friends can also get the same amount if they make their first purchase within 3 months. You receive the referral reward if your friend applies for the specific offer you send via a link, and of course after being approved. You can get a maximum of 10 such rewards ($500) per calendar year.