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Why exactly does anyone have a Discover card? I honestly do not understand why.
Discover has always done right by me. I get solid cash back instead of points. They used to have some great card benefits like free extended warranties that saved me money over the years. They were immediately helpful when I have lost a card or when I discovered fraudulent purchases. Customer service has been quick and helpful whenever I've needed it. They've been more than fair in extending my limits over the years. They don't push me to do any add on services.
After more than 20 years of being a customer, I don't see how anyone could do much better to someone who hasn't paid a dollar of interest in probably at least 15 of those years.
Getting a Discover card was probably the first adult financial step I took, and I really hope they don't get messed up by this. They've helped me grow the life I have now, and while I wouldn't necessarily say I'd be brand loyal no matter what, I'd be upset if after all this time something happened that would make me want to switch my primary card to something else.
Well I'm certainly glad it's been helpful to you, but there seem to be so few places where it is accepted vs. Visa or Mastercard. Do you have to have both a Discover card and either one of those as well?
I'm not the other commenter, but I've had a Discover card for over a decade, and there have only been 2 places I've ever wanted to buy something that didn't take Discover. One was an obscure website and the other was a small town antique store.
So to answer your question, I do have some other credit card options, but it's mostly for cash back reasons (I can use the best card for the category each month).
Thanks. I guess it was just my perception that it isn't widely accepted. Maybe it's just not obvious? Like a lot of places accept it but don't have a sign up or whatever?
It was also a joke for a long time. Back in the late 90s/early 00s, it wasn't nearly as widely accepted. It was way more niche back then. Nowadays it's pretty much the same as any other card.
And I'll agree with the guy above that I have had absolutely stellar experiences with Discover. This potential merger has me legit bummed out.
I guess I haven't paid attention since then because yeah, my perception of Discover is that a lot of placed don't accept it. If this merger doesn't fuck it up, I'm inclined to apply for a card.
I had always heard that but I don't think I'd need both hands to count the number of times I've had to use something else. I know it's due to the higher fee the merchant pays, but I don't know why Discover gets dinged for that when Amex is the same deal and Amex charges you an annual fee for the privilege! 😆
Most of my life I just used my Visa branded debit card, but for a while BOA had the Better Balance card that paid you $25/quarter if you paid off the card each month or something like that, so I put my Internet bill on it every month, paid it, and got $100/year for doing nothing.
They scrapped that awesome deal last year and converted it to a regular 1-2% cash back card, BUT they added on the free doubling of the manufacturer warranty! So now big purchases, like when my TV died go on there, and the humdrum everyday items still go on Discover. Most of the year the BOA card just sits empty, and the available balance just pads my debt/asset ratio.
Consumers can still play these games back against the credit companies if they're careful! Over the years, I've gotten much more out of them than they've gotten from me.
Because it's all in-house. There is no Visa bank, so when you have a Visa card, your agreement is between you, Visa, and the lending bank. That's why you have a Chase Visa, or Bank of America Visa.
Discover, however, is an actual financial institution, so their credit terms don't stipulate or involve other institutions. And that may seem like nothing, until something goes wrong. I was a Bank of America banker for a decade (it was a different lifetime, I swear) and I can tell you my personal first-hand experience with problem-solving between the two companies is no comparison. The autonomy of Discover controlling both the assets and transactions affords them much greater and simpler power in cases of dispute or problems.
As somebody formerly in the industry, Discover is actually the only credit card company I ever recommend to anyone.
I've asked others, but since you're definitely in the know about this stuff... it seems to me like it's not accepted in very many places. So if that's your only credit card, do you just have to hope a place accepts it or pay debit?
TBH I encounter very few places these days that don't accept Discover, but yes obviously you should have a secondary means of payment for those rare cases.
As to that secondary means, honestly my recommendation depends on the person. If you are trying to build, repair, or reestablish credit, then unfortunately the fucked nature of the credit system practically requires you to secure more than one line of credit; since there is rarely coercive enough reason to double-up on a particular card company then simply making that second card non-Discover kills two birds with one stone.
If however you're somebody with perhaps less discipline or a history of credit-related struggles, I would say maintaining good standing on a single card is good focus enough until you feel confident a second card won't cause temptation struggles and would then, yes, recommend simply relying on your debit for non-Discover-accepting scenarios.
Thanks! All of this is interesting to me because I was really bad paying back bills in the 90s before autopay was a thing and I never got a credit card because of it and I sort of never got around to it since. I realize that's a bad thing in this world, so if I ever do end up getting a credit card, it sounds like I should see about getting Discover first. I appreciate it.
Yeah I'm hesitant to fully endorse any financial company because, frankly, they're all relatively evil, but I do genuinely believe Discover is one of the least evil of the bunch and thus would say they're worth looking at when you're ready to work on building/repairing credit.
For a lot of reasons I'm not going to offer anything resembling actual financial or other advice, but if you come across any simple questions or problems along the way feel free to shoot me a message and I'll answer if I can.
Sure, I get that. But it's still good advice, so I appreciate it.
Discover Card used to be owned by Sears Roebuck Co.. Back in the olden days, Discover Card was a product for consumers looking to continue building their credit history.
It was relatively easy to get a low-limit Sears store credit card with no credit history whatsoever. After using the Sears store card for 6 months to a year, Sears would offer the Discover Card as a general-purpose credit card. Discover was an attractive financial vehicle as it offered path of least resistance to establish a credit history.
Sears was as ubiquitous a retailer as Amazon is today. Sears credit and Discover offered an unmatched level of purchasing power for the new consumer.
Sears sold off Discover to a third party shortly before they sold themselves to the same company that bought K-Mart. Sears c-suite leadership did not pivot into online sales fast enough and Amazon crowded them out of the future.
Source: I worked for Sears back when most of you were itching your daddy’s pants. I signed up many, many folks for Sears cards and I got $5 each time. Now get off my lawn, my knees hurt.
Because despite credit companies being a complete garbage heap of a way to shift money from the poor to the ultra rich, they can provide financial flexibility in the short term. Opening a new Discover card with 0% APR for 12 months to pay for a $1800 fridge when my old one's conpressor is shot is more responsible than blowing my $2000 in savings.
That certainly sounds like it. I guess my only question is about how few places accept it (or that's how I perceive it anyway). Or do you just hope you can do stuff like that if they do accept it and otherwise you pay with another means?
Maybe this is not the case outside the USA but in America, I have never seen any in-person merchant that does not accept Discover. The only online merchant I know of and regularly buy from that doesn't take Discover is TCGPlayer, but it is trivial to get around this by using PayPal.
Discover cards are also multi-network and can also be processed as Diner's Club International or JCB in some countries. This matters more internationally, of course, but it is an option.
And btw for the record American Express is also their own financial institution just like Discover, but I don't recommend them for most people for a few reasons: they tend to have higher credit standards, more of their cards have complicated or confusing terms, and many people don't realize that a number of their cards are still true legitimate charge cards rather than credit cards, meaning they require repayment in full every month rather than allowing a running line of credit. And yes that last one should be avoidable by simply reading terms, but I've seen more than one person get bit by not understanding what they're getting into with Amex.
That said, Amex also has some unique advantages, and if you're a frequent international traveler those advantages may be enough to make them the superior choice.
Honestly, American Express sounds perfect for me since I already treat my cards exactly like that (and as you can guess, that helps my credit rating too). I should look into this
Visa systems were down one day for me when I needed gas, and I decided then to always have at least two different types just in case (it also helps with other issues as I tend of get chip malfunction errors and stuff)
That's a great plan!
Discover has a 5% cash back calendar where you get up $75 back for purchases in that category. Others have them too not usually that high and it's hard to know if you reached the limit for the promotion. Their website site and customer service is great. Yes I have other cards and I use whichever will get me the most cash back. It's unusual for someone not to take discover where I go but that's the reason for the other cards.
I loved it when they had the "digital wallets" category last year. 5% on all mobile payments. It didn't count PayPal payments but I still maxed out the $75 cash back with my normal spending. Easiest $75 of my life
Can't wait for groceries and gas, I'll make that 75 in no time on each. I look at it as getting paid 300 dollars more a year on stuff I need to buy anyway. I might be able to make 1 or 1.5 but nothing like 5% especially on how much everything is nowadays. We need to save any way we can at this point.
It is usually my first choice card for things. I think they have the best customer relations, web site, and terms of the major card companies. I really hope Capital One fails to acquire them.
They used to have great cash back deals. Lately not as much. But you’d get 5% back on rotating categories, and then could spend that money for 10% off a variety of gift cards. They still have the 5% categories, but the gift cards rarely go on sale anymore.