Cash back · Discover · No annual fee
Last verified 2026-09-09. Review issuer source
The Discover it Cash Back's first year is hard to beat: Discover matches every dollar of cash back you earn, which turns the 5% rotating categories into 10% and the 1% base into 2%. The categories rotate each quarter, cap at $1,500 of spending, and need activating.
After year one it is an ordinary rotating card with a 1% base. Discover charges no foreign transaction fee, but its acceptance abroad is thinner than Visa or Mastercard, so do not count on it as a travel card.
Discover reports to all three bureaus and approves people early in their credit history more readily than the big banks, which is why it is so often someone's first rewards card.
| Card | Annual fee | Rewards earned | Net after fee | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discover it® Cash BackThis card · 5% on drugstores | None | $462 | +$462 | 300th of 1,291 |
| Chase Freedom Flex® Credit CardRotating 5% plus 3% on dining and drugstores · 5% on gas stations | None | $582 | +$582 | 13th of 1,291 |
| Citi Double Cash®A flat 2% once the match year ends · 2% on everything | None | $492 | +$492 | 282nd of 1,291 |
| Quicksilver Rewards1.5% flat with no fee and a $200 bonus · 1.5% on everything | None | $369 | +$369 | 470th of 1,291 |
Reference budget: groceries $6,000, dining and restaurants $3,600, gas and ev charging $2,400, travel and transit $3,000, online shopping $2,400, entertainment and streaming $1,200, everything else $6,000. Points are valued at 1¢ unless the program is worth less; statement credits, welcome bonuses, and perks are left out. Run it with your own spending.
Cap: $1,500 per quarterly
Earn 5% Cashback Bonus on at Drug Stores
Cap: $1,500 per quarterly
Earn 5% Cashback Bonus at Gas Stations
Cap: $1,500 per quarterly
Earn 5% Cashback Bonus on Transportation
No welcome bonus is stored for this catalog entry yet.
Earn 5% cash back on everyday purchases at different places you shop each quarter like grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, and more, up to the quarterly maximum when you activate. Plus, earn 1% cash back on all other purchases.
Discover gives cardmembers a FICO ® Credit score for free on monthly statements, mobile and online.
Get an unlimited dollar-for-dollar match of all the cash back you earn at the end of your first year, automatically. There is no limit to how much we'll match. So you could turn $50 cash back into $100. Or $100 into $200.
Benefit descriptions are the issuer’s and network’s own wording, trimmed for length. Limits and exclusions are in the guide to benefits.
