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Calculate how much you can earn with the Discover it Card's quarterly rotating 5% cash back categories, review the benefits, and compare top rewards cards.
The Discover it® Cash Back card features categories that rotate on a quarterly basis. These categories offer 5% back on up to $1,500 in combined spend each quarter which can earn you $75 at the cap.
The card typically features great categories such as gas, restaurants, and popular retailers such as Amazon and Target. On top of that, Discover matches the cash back you earn the first year which basically double the rewards.
I highly recommend picking up the no-annual fee Discover it Cash Back card as it's a great card for earning cash back.
The Discover it Cash Card earns 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent across all featured categories for the quarter. After the cap is hit, you'll earn at the non-category rate of 1% for the remainder of the quarter.
Quarters are defined as standard calendar quarters which are:
Q1: January 1 - March 31
Q2: April 1 - June 30
Q3: July 1 - September 30
Q4: October 1 - December 31
1% Everything Else
All other purchases on the Discover it Cash Card earns 1% cash back.
Discover it 5% Categories
The Discover it Cash Card features 5% cash back categories that rotates on a quarterly basis. You'll earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined spend across all featured categories for that quarter and earn 1% back for the rest of the quarter once you've hit that cap.
Discover it 2022 Categories
Quarter
Categories
Q1 2022
Grocery Stores, Fitness Clubs, Gym Memberships
Q2 2022
Gas Stations, Target
Q3 2022
Restaurants, PayPal
Q4 2022
Amazon.com, Digital Wallets
Past Discover it Categories
Listed below are the bonus categories featured over the past years for the Discover it Cash Card.
Discover it 2021 Categories
Quarter
Categories
Q4 2021
Amazon.com, Walmart.com, Target.com
Q3 2021
Restaurants, PayPal
Q2 2021
Gas Stations, Wholesale Clubs, Select Streaming Services
Q1 2021
Grocery Stores, Walgreens, CVS
Discover it 2020 Categories
Quarter
Categories
Q4 2020
Amazon.com, Walmart.com, Target.com
Q3 2020
Restaurants, PayPal
Q2 2020
Gas Stations, Uber, Lyft, Wholesale Clubs
Q1 2020
Grocery Stores, Walgreens, CVS
Discover it 2019 Categories
Quarter
Categories
Q4 2019
Amazon.com
Q3 2019
Restaurants
Q2 2019
Gas Stations, Uber, Lyft
Q1 2019
Grocery Stores
Discover it 2018 Categories
Quarter
Categories
Q4 2018
Amazon.com, Wholesale Clubs
Q3 2018
Restaurants
Q2 2018
Grocery Stores
Q1 2018
Gas Station, Wholesale Clubs
Card Benefits
The Discover it Cash Card features the following card benefits:
Discover will match your first 12 months of cash back, dollar-for-dollar. Matched cash back is given to you at the end of your first year of card membership.
This means you'll earn the equivalent of 10% back when spending across the 5% categories on the card during your first year.
Discover Deals
Discover Deals offers access to coupons that can earn you additional cash back and money off of everyday purchases.
Redeeming Discover Cash Back
Cash back earned with Discover Cards can be redeem for cash, gift cards, charity, and at checkout on Amazon.com. Cash redemptions can be applied to your bill as a statement credit or it can be deposited electronically into your account.
Gift cards will usually get you a little over 1 cents in value depending on your redemptions. For example many $50 gift cards only cost $45 in Discover Cash Back giving you a little bit of bonus value.
Amazon and charity donations are also available with $1 in Discover Cash Back equaling an even $1 to spend with Amazon or $1 donated to charity.
Discover it 5% Back Calculator
You can use this calculator to calculate how much cash back you can earn spending across the 5% cash back categories on the Discover it Card. It will calculate 5% back on up to $1,500 in spend and calculate 1% cash back for every $1 spent over that.
5% Quarterly Category
Enter how much you would spend during the quarter (3-month period).
5%
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Total Cash Back Earned
The total amount of cash back you would earn during the quarter.
$0
Cash Back
Cash Back Calculator
Calculate how much cash back you can earn with the Discover it Cash Card based on your spend. Results can be compared side by side any U.S. credit card featured on the site.
Any spend entered into the primary card column (the first column) will carry over to all credit card calculators on the site, so there's no need to re-enter spend when viewing other credit cards.
NOTE: The Discover it Cash Card features one category called Quarter Rotating Categories that calculates 5% back on up to $1,500 for each quarter.
If the calculator doesn't load after a few seconds, click here to re-load calculator.
Credit Cards
Use this section to add credit cards to the calculator. You can search for a card or go through our top recommendations for each category.
Once you select a card, you'll be shown the details of the card. Any link you click on in the details will open up in a new tab, so you will not lose your calculations.
Clicking on Add Selected Card will add it to the calculator.
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Compare A Card
Add a credit card to compare side by side based on spend, benefits and fees.
Search Cards
Search for a credit card by name, rewards program, or the rewards currency it earns.
Search Results Display Here
Family Cards
These cards are part of the same family and generally earn the same type of rewards.
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Travel Cards
Travel credit cards are great for building rewards redeemable towards a wide variety of travel including airfare, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and more. Most travel cards also offer a range of benefits that can make your trips more enjoyable and save you money.
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Cash Back Cards
Cash back is one of the most flexible form of rewards and most easy to understand. Rewards earned are worth face value and they can be used towards almost anything.
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Business Cards
Put money back into your business by earning cash back, points, or miles on business expenses. Many cards also offer travel insurance, purchase protection, and more.
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Airline Cards
These are the best credit cards if you're looking to use rewards towards award flights. Some of these cards also offer various benefits such as lounge access the ability to earn qualifying miles through spending.
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Hotel Cards
If you're looking to use rewards towards free nights at hotels, these are the best cards for you. Many of these cards also offer great benefits such as annual free nights, complimentary elite status, and more.
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No Annual Fee
If you're looking to minimize your immediate costs while still earning plenty of value, you may want to consider a credit card with no annual fee. Some of these cards also offer lower interest rates and balance transfer offers.
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Intro Bonus:
Annual Fee:
Authorized User Fee:
Bonus Categories:
Loyalty & Memberships
Loyalty: When adding hotel rewards cards (and a select few others) you'll be able to factor in the points earned from elite status. If a card offers complimentary status, the proper status will be selected by default.
Loyalty is reflected by a blue LOY image. Adding a card with loyalty attached to it will add it to the calculator. It becomes its own entity once added to the calculator and can be removed independent of the card that added it.
Membership: If a card offers any kind of bonus rewards based on your membership in a program, the option will be listed here. Do note that some options calculate automatically.
Welcome Bonus: Any welcome bonuses that changes the earning rates of a card will also be listed here. This allows you to toggle the bonus on or off.
Category Spending
Use this section to enter how much you plan on spending either monthly or yearly across different categories for each card listed.
You can click on the option button for access to a lot of useful tools you can use to quickly adjust spending for the calculator.
Change the order of the categories in the Category Spending section. This has an impact on cards that have spend limits and bonus caps on categories.
Resets all fields in the Category Spending section for all columns. Also clears all saved spend values that carry from calculator to calculator.
Add Categories
Search for categories and click 'Add Category' to add it to the calculator. If you want to be more specific, you can specify domestic or international spend.
Type at least 3 characters.
Currently Selected:
Spend Region:
Category Spending Total
The amount of rewards earned from card spending.
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Rewards & Bonuses
If a card earns bonus points, miles, or cash back, it will be listed here. You'll be able to edit or toggle on/off most bonuses listed here.
Do note that some bonuses may be automatically calculated based on spend entered in the Category Spending section.
If you want to factor in an intro or welcome bonus, you can also do that here by entering it in the Extra Value field. You can click on View Offers when applicable to see current sign up bonuses for all top credit cards by category.
Extra Value
Use this field to add additional rewards to include in the calculation such as an intro or signup bonus.
Extra Value
Use this field to add additional rewards to include in the calculation such as an intro or signup bonus.
Extra Value
Use this field to add additional rewards to include in the calculation such as an intro or signup bonus.
Rewards & Bonus Total
The amount of rewards earned from card bonuses.
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Total Rewards
This is the total of all points, miles, and cash back earned between Loyalty/Memberships, Category Spending, and Reward Bonuses.
This is how much we value the rewards earned with the card on average based on our valuations. Cards that may offer bonus/additional value are reflected here.
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Transfers To Partners
Redemptions to do with transferring rewards to partner loyalty programs and redeeming them for high value (when applicable). These redemption values typically require knowledge of the best transfer partners.
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Cash Back, Statement Credits
Redemptions to do with turning your rewards into cash back or using it as a statement credit to offset purchases made to the card.
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Travel
Redemptions to do with using your rewards towards travel such as airfare, hotels, and car rentals (not including transfers to partners).
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Gift Cards
Redemptions to do with using your rewards towards the purchase of gift cards.
The total amount of rewards earned from the Category Spending and Rewards & Bonuses sections.
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Currency Worth
Enter how much you value a single rewards point or mile in cents or regional currency equivalent (X.XX). The value of cash back cannot be changed.
Rewards Cash Value
The average cash value of rewards earned in the Grand Total section based on the set Currency Worth.
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Monetary Bonuses
This section lists all monetary bonuses. This includes annual credits and top-tier benefits that can offer great monetary value.
If there's a perk or benefit missing that you find valuable, you can add how much you value it in the Extra Cash Value field.
Extra Cash Value
Use this field to add additional cash value to the calculations.
Extra Cash Value
Use this field to add additional cash value to the calculations.
Extra Cash Value
Use this field to add additional cash value to the calculations.
Total Cash Value
The total cash value of all listed benefits plus the cash value of rewards earned.
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Fees
With great benefits comes great annual fees. If a card has a fee that you have to pay annually (or monthly in rare cases), it will be listed here. You have the ability to change it.
If the card charges a fee for adding authorized users, it will also appear in this section.
Annual Fee
This is the fee you must pay annually to have the card.
Authorized User Fee
This is the cost to add additional users or supplemental cards to the account. Enter total amount of authorized users.
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Total Card Value
This is the total cash value of each listed card when factoring in all rewards and all fees.
