While no one else enjoys talking up the benefits of Discover Card, I surely do since it is my oldest standing credit card that my parents signed me up under them way back in 1997. Sure opening up a Discover Card is not going to get you a free flight to Bangladesh or a couple free nights in a suite in London. However, my Discover Card does provide me with some nice benefits such as reduced gift card redemptions (i.e. $50 gift cards for only $40 in Discover cashback bonus) and even access to Shop Discover, which happens to be one of the most lucrative cashback shopping portals there is.
For example, we purchase quite a few Groupon deals throughout the year, and no one can come close to the 15% cashback bonus offered by Discover Card.
So this past week as I was perusing my Discover account looking for any goodies to bring all of you fine readers, it was with a heavy heart that I found an option within Discover that is going by the wayside. Effective March 31, 2013, you will no longer be able to redeem your Discover cashback bonus towards merchandise. However, you will still be able to redeem your earned cashback towards Amazon purchases.
While I do not know if the redemption value was there when redeeming cashback for merchandise (i.e. was it cheaper to buy the items elsewhere), I do not like to necessarily see benefits go away.
So if you have an urge to use up your Discover Card cashback on merchandise, I recommend doing it sooner than later as time is running out to get those Jelly Beans of the World collection.
Save Money, Travel More!
Source: InACents
There were never any deals. I always thought the items were over priced, and I fond cheaper through a simple search engine. No loss
Hi Justin,
I work at Discover and wanted to thank you for the post about our rewards program. We’re glad to hear that you’ve been a loyal cardmember since 1997!
We are constantly evaluating our rewards program to ensure we provide the best redemption offers, so I wanted to point out a few additional ways to redeem Cashback Bonus as the merchandise redemption option recently came to a close. For example, Discover’s digital eCertificates are digital gift cards that can be redeemed online through the Discover card account center or through a smartphone on the Discover mobile app to be used at over 60 retailers. The eCertificates can also be added to Passbook for those using the iPhone for quick access.
Discover is also always adding merchant partners to redeem for added value gift cards, which you referenced in your post. In fact, today we’ve got over 160 partners with which cardmembers can redeem for added value. Also, as you mentioned, Pay with Cashback Bonus is a fast, simple way to use any amount of cash back at checkout for millions of items on Amazon.com and on iTunes. That’s increasingly becoming a very popular way for cardmembers to redeem their rewards.
Cardmembers can also make charitable donations to organizations like Make-A-Wish Foundation, American Cancer Society, Operation Homefront, and ASPCA, to name a few.
Hope this helps!
Alyssa Siegele
Thanks for the follow-up Alyssa!