Discover has announced its fourth-quarter 2023 5% bonus categories for the Discover it Cash Back Credit Card. This quarter’s bonus categories are great for the upcoming holiday shopping season, because they include Target and Amazon.com. Because Discover offers new cardmembers a cash back match on every purchase at the end of their first cardmember year, you can earn up to 10% on $1,500 of spending at Target and Amazon.com this quarter if you are a new cardmember.
If you’re a cardmember, you should have receive an email inviting you to activate your cash back categories. Use the link in your email to activate your cash back categories with one click. Alternatively, you can activate your categories online at Discover’s website.
To earn 5% on up to $1,500 in spending in bonus categories, you must activate your cash back categories each quarter.
5% cash back rewards are limited to your first $1,500 in purchases across all cash back categories. Purchases beyond $1,500 will earn the card’s standard 1% cash back.
Discover It Cash Back: Get a $100 statement credit when you’re approved and use the card within the first three months. Plus, get all of your cash back doubled in your first year of having the card.
Our take on the welcome bonus: Discover only offers a $100 statement credit if you apply through a referral link. We know of no higher offer available on this card.
The link above is a referral link. Someone on our team may earn points if you apply and are approved to the link above.
Card highlights:
Annual fee: $0
Rewards: 5% on quarterly cash back categories when you activate. 1% on all other purchases. Plus, get a cashback match in your first year.
2023 Discover it Cash Back category overview
Here’s the complete 2023 cash back category calendar.
| Q1 2023 January – March | Q2 2023 April – June | Q3 2023 July – September | Q4 2023 October – December |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grocery, Drug Stores, Streaming | Restaurants and Wholesale Clubs | Gas and Digital Wallets | Target and Amazon.com |
| Earn 5% Cashback Bonus at Grocery Stores, Drug Stores and Select Streaming Services. Excludes Walmart and Target purchases. | Earn 5% Cashback Bonus at Restaurants and Wholesale Clubs. | Earn 5% Cashback Bonus at Gas Stations and with Digital Wallets. | Earn 5% Cashback Bonus at Target and Amazon.com. |
Fourth quarter, 2023 category bonus details
Here’s some additional detail on the bonuses offered in Q4 2024.
Amazon.com purchases include those made through the Amazon.com checkout, like digital downloads, Amazon Fresh orders, Amazon Local Deals, Amazon Prime subscriptions, and items sold by third party merchants through Amazon.com’s marketplace. This also includes purchases in-store at Amazon Go. Amazon, the Amazon.com logo, the smile logo and all related marks are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
Target purchases include those made in store at Target, Target.com, or through the Target app
How to activate Discover cash back categories
If you have a Discover IT cash back card, you must activate your Cashback Bonus categories before you’ll receive 5% on the quarter’s categories. There are two ways to activate your categories: Through the website or through an email you receive.
Activating through the website: Simply log into your account at Discover.com and look toward the left-hand side of the page for the link to active.
Activating through email: You may also receive an email with a one-click link to activate your cash back categories.
When do I need to activate?
The best time to activate your Discover cash back categories is as soon as they are announced. You’ll earn 5% back on bonus category purchases made only after you activate them. If you spend in Discover’s bonus categories after the quarter starts, but before you activate a cash back category, you’ll earn only 1% on purchases until you activate. Discover does not retroactively award bonus cash back to purchases you make before you activate.
Discover It Cash Back: Get a $100 statement credit when you’re approved and use the card within the first three months. Plus, get all of your cash back doubled in your first year of having the card.
Our take on the welcome bonus: Discover only offers a $100 statement credit if you apply through a referral link. We know of no higher offer available on this card.
The link above is a referral link. Someone on our team may earn points if you apply and are approved to the link above.
Card highlights:
Annual fee: $0
Rewards: 5% on quarterly cash back categories when you activate. 1% on all other purchases. Plus, get a cashback match in your first year.
Historical cash back categories
Knowing previous bonus categories can help you determine how much value you might get from a card with rotating categories in the future. While there is no guarantee that Discover will offer 5% rewards on any particular spending category until it announces its cash back categories, typically spending categories don’t change much year-to-year.
Here is what the Discover it Cash Back Credit Card has offered 5% rewards on in the past.
Discover cash back calendar for 2022
- January-March: Grocery stores, fitness clubs and gym memberships
- April-June: Gas stations and Target
- July-September: Restaurants and PayPal
- October-December: Amazon.com and digital wallets
Discover cash back calendar for 2021
- January-March: Grocery stores, Walgreens and CVS
- April-June: Gas stations, wholesale clubs and select streaming services
- July-September: Restaurants and PayPal
- October-December: Amazon.com, Walmart.com and Target.com
Discover cash back calendar for 2020
- January-March: Grocery stores, Walgreens and CVS
- April-June: Gas stations, Uber, Lyft and wholesale clubs
- July-September: Restaurants and PayPal
- October-December: Amazon.com, Walmart.com and Target.com
Frequently asked questions
Discover doubles the cash back that you earn as a new cardmember within the first year of cardmembership. For Discover It cardmembers, this includes the cash back you earn in the card’s 5% bonus categories.
No. Unlike other transferable points currencies, you cannot transfer your Discover Cashback awards to airline and hotel loyalty programs.
You can earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 of category spending each quarter. This means you can earn a maximum of $75 per quarter or $300 per year from the 5% bonus categories. All purchases in bonus categories beyond $1,500 in a quarter earn 1% cash back.