Discover it® Chrome is a good credit card to apply for if you have good credit or better (
700+ credit score) and you want to earn bonus cash back rewards on gas and dining out. It has a
$0 annual fee and gives 2% cash back on the first $1,000 that you spend at gas stations and restaurants each quarter. Plus, you’ll get 1% cash back on all other purchases, and Discover will match the rewards you earn the first year as an anniversary present.
Although this card is definitely worth considering, it’s not perfect. For example, you can get a
0% for 18 months introductory APR on balance transfers, but a high regular APR takes effect afterward-
17.49% - 26.49% Variable. Below, you can find a quick summary of the most important points to consider when deciding whether or not to apply for
Discover it Chrome.
What I Like About Discover it Chrome
Best for gas and dining out
The 2% cash back that the Discover it Chrome offers on the first $1,000 in gas and restaurant purchases that you make each quarter (combined) is almost double the market-average earning rate for a cash rewards card, according to WalletHub’s latest
Credit Card Landscape Report.
Anniversary bonus matches your first-year rewards
Discover will match whatever rewards you earn the first year your account is open. That’s an amazing opportunity, making the bonus rate elite.
Discover’s best balance-transfer deal
Discover it Chrome’s 18-month 0% intro term on balance transfers beats the market average by around 5 months. While the 0% intro balance transfer rate is eye-catching, you should consider the transfer fee:
3% intro balance transfer fee, up to 5% fee on future balance transfers (see terms)*. Plus, once the intro period concludes, an APR of
17.49% - 26.49% Variable will come into effect. That could translate into a lot of money saved.
No annual/foreign transaction fees
Like all other Discover credit cards,
Discover it Chrome doesn’t charge annual membership fees or fees for making purchases from foreign merchants. That can save you a fair amount compared to cards from other issuers.
What I Don’t Like About Discover it Chrome
Below-average for financing big-ticket buys
The
Discover it Chrome gives you an intro APR of
0% for 6 months on purchases. That’s better than nothing, to be sure, but it’s also a lot shorter than the market average for a 0% card (
11.59 months). So if you’re planning a big-ticket purchase that will take a while to pay off, this is not the card to use. The card has a regular APR of
17.49% - 26.49% Variable.
Annual spending limit for bonus rewards
The card’s bonus rewards rate applies to a maximum of $1,000 in purchases per quarter. That means you can get no more than $80 from it each year, according to our calculations. So if you really want to maximize your earnings on gas and dining, you might want to keep looking.
Average for most purchases after the first year
The
Discover it Chrome card offers just 1% cash back on most purchases, which is barely below the market average of
1.18% back. So you can do better – at least after 12 months, that is. Discover’s first-year rewards-match new customer offer changes things early on.
High regular rate
Discover it Chrome advertises a regular APR of
17.49% - 26.49% Variable. That could be slightly higher than average for a card that requires excellent credit for approval, according to
WalletHub research. In other words, you should definitely make sure to avoid carrying a balance from month to month with this card, absent the 0% intro rate.
Good credit required
Since you generally need
good credit to get approved for Discover it Chrome, it’s a good idea to
check your latest credit score for free here on WalletHub before you apply. You may also want to check out the
market’s best overall offers for your particular needs to make sure you’re not leaving anything lucrative on the table.
You can learn more about how this card stacks up against some of its top competitors from our comparison of
Discover it Cash Back vs Discover it Chrome as well as our review of the
best Discover cards.
Note: This review is not provided, commissioned or endorsed by any issuer. Opinions and ratings are our own.
