The Discover it Business Card Review

The Discover it Business Card—the only business credit card offered by Discover—will give you 1.5% cash back on all of your business purchases, an unlimited cashback match on everything you earn in your first year, and 100% U.S.-based customer service, all without an annual fee. With these features, the Discover Business Card is simple, straightforward, and great for business owners who plan on making substantial purchases within the year.

This Discover business credit card offers a 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months from the date you open your account. After these interest-free 12 months, a variable APR will set in at a rate depending on your creditworthiness. This rate will also vary with the market, so you’ll want to check Discover’s terms and conditions for the latest APR information.

Unlike other business credit cards that offer a signup bonus immediately, the Discover Business Card has a delayed welcome bonus. Discover offers an automatic, unlimited match for all of the cash back you earn at the end of your first year. This means the more you spend within the first year, the more you earn.

If you earn $75 from your 1.5% cash back on business purchases, Discover will match the full $75 at the end of the year. There are no limits to how much Discover will match and at the end of the 12 months, Discover will apply the rewards to your account in the following one or two billing periods.

The Discover Business Card, therefore, could be an attractive option for business owners who will be making significant purchases within the first year of opening their account.

For every dollar you spend using the Discover Business Card, you’ll receive 1.5% cash back. Your cash back rewards never expire and are added to your Cashback Bonus account at the end of each billing period.

You can redeem your Discover business credit card rewards for cash at any time, as well as redeem them for:

• Gift cards or instant eCertificates from Discover Partners, starting at $20
• Charitable donations to select charities, starting at $0.01
• Credit to your account, starting at $0.01
• Electronic deposit into any designated account, starting at $0.01

In addition to the Discover Business Card cash back rewards, you’ll also receive security and service benefits, as we’ll discuss below.

This Discover business credit card has no annual fee. This means you’ll be able to use your card and have access to all of its cash back perks without having to budget for a service fee on a yearly basis.

• You plan on making a significant amount of purchases within the first year of signing up for this Discover business credit card and can take advantage of the 12-month unlimited cashback match.
• You’re looking for a business credit card with very few fees. The Discover Business Card has no annual fee, no penalty APR, no overlimit fee, no foreign transaction fees, and no late fee on your first late payment.
• Customer service is important to you. The Discover Business Card includes 100% U.S.-based customer service at any time, as well as free credit scorecards, free Social Security number alerts, and free overnight shipping for card replacements.

• You want an immediate signup bonus. Although the Discover Business Card offers a 12-month cashback match, you won’t receive this bonus until after the 12-months are up. Conversely, other business credit cards offer more immediate welcome bonuses—the Chase Ink Business Cash®, for example, offers a high welcome offer based on what you spend in the first three months.
• You’re looking for higher cash back reward rates. This Discover business credit card offers an unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases, the Capital One Spark Cash card, however, offers 2% (but also has an annual fee after the first year). Additionally, certain cards give you higher cash back rewards based on the purchase category. The Chase Ink Business Cash®, as an example, offers 5%, 2%, and 1% cash back depending on the purchase.
• You would prefer travel rewards. The Discover Business Card does not have any travel-specific perks, whereas there are a multitude of other business credit cards that do.
• You want to consolidate debt from a previous business credit card using balance transfers. Although generally, the Discover Business Card has very limited fees, balance transfers are the exception. Discover charges a variable APR for balance transfers, as well as a 5% fee on the amount of each transfer.

Not only do you receive 1.5% cash back on all purchases with this Discover business credit card, but you also have a potentially massive cashback opportunity with their 12-month cashback match. With an unlimited dollar-for-dollar match on all cash back you earn within your first year, you’re essentially receiving 3% cashback on all purchases you make in those first 12 months.

If you’re a new business with startup costs, or simply plan to make significant purchases within your first year with this Discover business card, you could make a substantial amount of cash back with this perk.

Moreover, Discover is extremely flexible with the way you redeem your cash back rewards. Your cash back never expires, you can redeem your rewards for cash at any time, in any amount, and you also have the option to redeem them for gift cards, account credits, and more—as we discussed above.

When you’re running a business, especially in the early stages, business credit card fees can seriously affect your budget and cash flow. Luckily, the Discover Business Card has very limited fees. This card has no annual fee, no overlimit fee, no foreign transaction fees, no penalty APR, and no late fee on your first late payment.

Moreover, Discover allows you to pay your bill over the phone for free, provides free employee cards with spending limits and rewards, as well as offers free overnight shipping for card replacements.

This being said, there are very few instances where you will incur a fee from your Discover business credit card—these cases, however, include: $37 late payment fee after the first time you pay late, up to a $37 fee for returned payment, 5% of the amount of each transfer for balance transfers, and in the case of cash advances, either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.

Therefore, the Discover Business Card is a great low-cost option for building business credit—as long as you pay your bill on time.

For a business credit card with no annual fee, the Discover Business Card offers multiple security and fraud prevention benefits. First, Discover gives you the ability to freeze your account online or on their mobile app to prevent new purchases, which can be used if your card is lost or stolen.

Additionally, Discover offers $0 fraud liability, meaning you’re never responsible for unauthorized purchases on your card. You also receive free alerts from Discover if they find your social security number on any Dark Web sites, as well as if a new account shows up on your credit report.

Once again, if you’re looking to establish or improve your business credit, these security measures can be particularly important in helping protect you against fraud.

Finally, Discover provides support for their business credit card holders, including, first and foremost, 100% U.S.-based customer service available at any time.

In addition, as a Discover Business Card customer, you receive free Credit Scorecards (containing your FICO credit score, number of recent inquiries, and a credit score impact breakdown), the ability to download your transactions to QuickBooks, Quicken, or Excel, as well as the option to pay your bill by phone or online up until midnight of the due date.

The Discover Business Card 12-month cashback match may be perfect for business owners who will be spending significantly during that time frame, but if that’s not the case for you, this perk isn’t particularly impressive. On the other hand, some business credit cards offer an upfront welcome bonus, in the form of cash back or points. If you don’t think you’ll be spending enough within the first year to make this cash back bonus worth it, you might consider another business credit card option that better fits your spending plans.

Similarly, although this Discover business credit card offers 1.5% cash back on all purchases, it does not offer any category specific cash back rewards. This may not be an issue if you’re planning to use your business credit card for general expenses, however, there are other options that may also be worth considering.

As an example, the Bank of America Business Advantage card offers 3%, 2%, and 1% cash back depending on where you make your purchases. If you’re going to be making more purchases in any of the higher percentage categories, this type of card may be better for your business.

Moreover, if you’re willing to pay an annual fee after the first year, the Capital One Spark Cash card can offer you 2% unlimited cash back on all of your purchases. And finally, if you think you would benefit most greatly from travel rewards, as opposed to Discover’s 1.5% cash back on everything, there are a variety of business credit card options designed specifically for travel.

If you want to use your business credit card to consolidate debts from a previous account, it’s going to cost you to do so with the Discover Business Card. As we mentioned earlier, balance transfers is one of the few places where you’ll incur fees from Discover—as they charge 5% on the amount of each balance transfer. Plus, balance transfers face a variable APR rate, cannot be used to pay Discover accounts, and do not earn rewards.

Therefore, if balance transfer is your goal, a card with a 0% intro APR on purchases and transfers, like the American Express Blue Business Plus, might more aptly suit your needs.

The Capital One Spark Cash card is a great Discover Business Card alternative if you’re looking for a more immediate welcome bonus and more robust cash back rewards.

However, although the Spark Cash card may offer a more appealing welcome bonus and cash back rewards than the Discover Business Card—there are other areas where the Spark Cash card may not be as impressive.

To explain, after your first year, the Spark Cash card has an annual fee of $95. Moreover, there is no 0% intro APR period with this card. Plus, if you’re looking for rewards based on categories, neither the Discover Business Card nor the Spark Cash will be able to meet that requirement.

At the end of the day, however, if you don’t mind paying an annual fee after your first year and would benefit from a higher cash back rate for general purchases, the Spark Cash card is worth considering as an alternative to the Discover business credit card.

Another alternative to the Discover Business Card you might consider is the Blue Business Cash from American Express.

There are many benefits to this card: the Blue Business Cash card has a 12 month 0% intro APR period on purchases (one of the longest on the market and after which a variable APR will set in), no annual fee, and great cash back rewards on business purchases.

With the Blue Business Cash card, you’ll earn 2% cashback for every dollar you spend on the first $50,000 annually. Moreover, after this $50,000 limit, you’ll continue to earn 1% cash back on all of your spending.

Therefore, if you want to be able have cash back rewards and earn more in across all your business purchases than you would with the straight 1.5% rate from the Discover Business Card, you might think about the Blue Business Cash card from American Express.

Finally, you might also consider the Chase Ink Unlimited card as a top Discover business credit card alternative.

Like the Discover Business Card, the Ink Unlimited includes no annual fee, a 0% intro APR for 12 months on purchases, and an ongoing rewards offer of 1.5% unlimited cash back on all spending. Once again, just like the Discover card, after the 12 month intro period, a variable APR will set in depending on your credit worthiness and the market rate.

The big difference, then, between these two cards is the welcome bonus. The Ink Unlimited card offers a generous cash welcome offer after you meet the spending threshold within the first three months of opening your account—giving you access to your bonus much more quickly than the Discover Business card.

However, you’ll also want to keep in mind that the Ink Unlimited does have a 3% foreign transaction fee, as well as a balance transfer fee. But, whereas there is no Discover business checking account to utilize alongside your Discover Business Card, Chase can give you the opportunity to manage your business finances in one place—with a variety of competitive options for business credit cards, checking accounts, and savings accounts.