Cash back · Discover · No annual fee
Last verified 2026-09-09. Review issuer source
Discover It Secured is a no-annual-fee cash back card from Discover. Its best everyday rates are 5% on drugstores, 5% on gas stations, and 5% on transit; everything else earns 1%. Drugstores is capped at $1,500 a quarter, then drops to the base rate. The top rate rotates through categories each quarter and needs activating.
On our reference budget of $24,600 a year it returns about $498, an effective 2% back.
Get it for the reporting. Pay in full, keep the balance under a third of the limit, and ask about graduating to an unsecured card after a year. The rewards are beside the point.
Cap: $1,000 per quarterly
Earn 2% Cashback Bonus® at Gas Stations and Restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter, automatically.
Cap: $1,500 per quarterly
Earn 5% Cashback Bonus on at Drug Stores
Cap: $1,000 per quarterly
Earn 2% Cashback Bonus® at Gas Stations and Restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter, automatically.
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 2% Cashback Bonus® 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.
Discover gives cardmembers a FICO ® Credit score for free on monthly statements, mobile and online.
After 7 months, we begin automatic monthly account reviews to see if you qualify to upgrade to an 'unsecured' card and get your deposit back.
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.
Benefit descriptions are the issuer’s and network’s own wording, trimmed for length. Limits and exclusions are in the guide to benefits.
| Card | Annual fee | Rewards earned | Net after fee | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discover It® SecuredThis card · 5% on drugstores | None | $498 | +$498 | 280th of 1,291 |
| Discover it® Cash BackDiscover's most-held other card · 5% on drugstores | None | $462 | +$462 | 300th of 1,291 |
| Savor RewardsThe strongest no-fee card on this budget · 3% on dining | None | $642 | +$642 | 4th of 1,291 |
| Robinhood Gold CardHighest net return on this budget · 3% on everything | $50 | $798 | +$748 | 1st 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.
