The Discover it® Student Cash Back is a great choice if you're a student with limited credit history and want to earn a strong rate of cash back on your everyday spending without paying an annual fee. Because of these benefits, this card earned our "top pick for students" vote in our guide to the best Discover credit cards.
$0
0% intro APR for six months on purchases
17.24% - 26.24% Variable APR
Earn Unlimited Cashback Match®
Fair/New to Credit
- From January 1 to March 31, 2025, earn 5% cash back at restaurants, home improvement stores, and select streaming services on up to $1,500 in purchases after enrollment, then 1%
- Discover matches your cash back after the first year
- Not the most rewarding cash-back card for non-bonus purchases
The Discover it® Student Cash Back is a great choice if you're a student with limited credit history and want to earn a strong rate of cash back on your everyday spending without paying an annual fee.
Discover it Student Cash Back- Intro Offer: Unlimited Cashback Match for all new cardmembers – only from Discover. Discover will automatically match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year! There’s no minimum spending or maximum rewards. So you could turn $50 cash back into $100. Or turn $100 cash back into $200.
- 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 unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.
- Redeem your rewards for cash at any time.
- No credit score required to apply.
- Discover could help you reduce exposure of your personal information online by helping you remove it from select people-search sites that could sell your data. Activate by mobile app for free.
- No annual fee and build your credit with responsible use.
- 0% intro APR on purchases for 6 months, then the standard variable purchase APR of 17.24% - 26.24% applies.
- Terms and conditions apply.
Discover it Student Cash Back Overview
If you're a student over the age of 18, you may be thinking about how to get a credit card for the first time. After all, opening a card is a great first step in building credit and developing good financial habits for the future. However, getting approved for a credit card can be challenging if you're young and have a limited credit history.
Fortunately, some banks offer credit cards for students and starter credit cards for those who are just starting out with credit. The Discover it® Student Cash Back is a solid choice if you're looking for a no-annual-fee card that earns cash-back rewards, offers student-friendly features, and doesn't require a security deposit.
With the Discover it® Student Cash Back, you can earn 5% cash back in popular rotating bonus categories when you activate, on up to $1,500 in combined spending each quarter (then 1% back), as well as 1% back everywhere else with no limits (from January 1 to March 31, 2025, earn 5% cash back at restaurants, home improvement stores, and select streaming services on up to $1,500 in purchases after enrollment, then 1%).
While there's no traditional welcome bonus, Discover will match all the cash back you earned with the Discover it® Student Cash Back after the first 12 months through the Discover Cashback Match® program, and there's no limit to the amount matched.
Keep in mind there are other student credit cards that do offer a welcome bonus. For example, the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card for Students offers a $200 cash rewards bonus after making $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days from account opening.
Discover it Student Cash Back Card Rewards
How to Earn Rewards
To maximize the cash back you earn with the Discover it® Student Cash Back, you'll need to activate the rotating bonus categories each quarter through your online Discover account.
Once you've activated the bonus, you'll earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined spending (then 1%) in that quarter's categories (from January 1 to March 31, 2025, earn 5% cash back at restaurants, home improvement stores, and select streaming services on up to $1,500 in purchases after enrollment, then 1%). All other purchases earn a 1% cash back, with no caps.
Discover will automatically match all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year (even on bonus categories). You don't need to do anything to activate this match.
How to Use Rewards
The simplest way to use rewards from the Discover it® Student Cash Back is by redeeming for a statement credit or direct deposit to an eligible checking or savings account. There's no minimum redemption amount, and your rewards don't expire as long as your account is open.
Other redemption options include:
- Paying with rewards directly at Amazon or with PayPal
- Donating to Discover's charity partners which include American Cancer Society, ASPCA, American Red Cross, Carbonfund.org, Children's Miracle Network, Junior Achievement, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Make-A-Wish, Operation Homefront, and World Wildlife Fund
- Gift cards to popular merchants (minimum redemption amount may apply, some merchants offer a bonus)
Discover it Student Cash Back Benefits and Features
As you might expect from a student card with no annual fee, the Discover it® Student Cash Back doesn't come with a huge list of benefits, but it does have a couple of handy perks that can save you money and help you stay on top of your finances.
0% Introductory APR on Purchases
The Discover it® Student Cash Back comes with a 0% intro APR for six months on purchases (then a 17.24% - 26.24% Variable APR), which is helpful if you have a lot of school expenses to pay for upfront that you need a little more time to pay off.
Just be sure you have the means and a plan to pay off your balance before the promotional APR period expires, otherwise, you could be on the hook for hefty interest charges.
Free FICO Score
Discover it® Student Cash Back cardholders can access their FICO score for free, any time, through their online account. This makes it easy to keep an eye on your credit score and how it's changed over time.
Late Payment Forgiveness
If you're late with a payment on the Discover it® Student Cash Back, Discover won't charge you a fee the first time it happens, but they will charge a late payment fee after that. Paying late will not increase your APR, however.
Unique Card Designs
Discover it® Student Cash Back cardholders can choose from over a dozen colorful (and unusual) card designs that you don't usually find on conventional credit cards.
Discover it Student Card Annual Fees and Other Costs
The Discover it® Student Cash Back has no annual fee and doesn't charge foreign transaction fees, so if you're making international purchases or traveling abroad it's a good pick. Just keep in mind Discover isn't always as widely accepted as other credit cards, so if you're traveling you might want to have a backup card just in case.
As with most other cards, there are fees for late payments (except the first occurrence), returned payments, balance transfers, and cash advances.
Compare the Discover it Student Card
Discover it Student Card vs. Discover it Student Chrome
If you'd rather not keep track of rotating bonus categories, Discover issues another student card — the Discover it® Student Chrome — which offers 2% back at restaurants and gas stations on up to $1,000 in purchases each quarter (then 1%), and 1% cash back on everything else. Like with the Discover it® Student Cash Back, there's no traditional welcome bonus, but for new card members in the first year, Discover will automatically match all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year.
Read our Discover it Student Chrome Card review.
Discover it Student Card vs. Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Card
If you want opportunities to earn strong rewards in different categories, consider the Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card, which earns 3% cash back on dining, groceries, entertainment, and eligible streaming services, and 1% back on everything else.
You also get a welcome bonus of $50 cash bonus once you spend $100 on purchases within three months of account opening, and some travel protection benefits that don't come with the Discover it® Student Cash Back.
Read our Capital One Savor Student Credit Card review.
Discover it Cash Back Student Card Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, Discover's terms and conditions state you must be a student enrolled in a two- or four-year college to qualify for the Discover it® Student Cash Back card. You'll also be asked for your year in college and expected graduation dates when you apply for the card.
If you're not a student but like this card's features, check out the regular Discover it® Cash Back card instead.
The Discover it® Student Cash Back is designed for students with fair credit or who are new to credit. Fair credit is defined as a FICO score between 580-669, and new to credit means you may have a score below that or no score at all.
In fact, the card's application page says no credit score is required to apply. Discover will consider all the details you provide on your application, your credit report (which includes your credit score if you have one), and other information when they decide whether or not to approve you for the card.
Discover allows you to have a maximum of one Discover student credit card account. However, you're eligible to apply for a second Discover credit card after your first Discover credit card has been open for more than 12 months and you're no longer a student.
No, the Discover it® Student Cash Back is not a secured credit card, so you won't have to put down a cash deposit on approval. However, Discover does offer the Discover it® Secured Credit Card, which doesn't require you to be a student to qualify.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed the Discover it® Student Cash Back
When Personal Finance Insider reviews a credit card, we scrutinize the fine print to explore the details, then assess the pros and cons of each product. We rate credit cards on a scale of one to five points, considering five factors in total and considering them relative to other comparable cards on the market.
See our full explanation of how we rate credit cards »
When considering whether or not Discover is right for you, consider its additional product lines:
- Discover Personal Loan Review
- Discover Bank Review
- Discover Savings Account Review
- Discover CD Rates
- Discover Home Loans Review
