Discover it Business Card Review

Full Review of Discover it Business Card

Pros Explained

• Flat Cash-Back Rewards: For a card with no annual fee, the Discover it Business card offers excellent rewards. And they come as cash back, at a flat rate. That’s in contrast to the varying cash-back rates by categories or the more complex rewards in points or miles, as some other business cards provide. You'll get unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase you make, and your rewards never expire. If you spent $10,000 in a year with your business credit card, then, you'd earn $150 in cash back rewards.
• Introductory 0% APR: The Discover it Business card provides an introductory 0% APR offer on purchases for 12 months after account opening. That puts it on a par with 0% APR offers from some other no-fee business cards. As with those cards, once the introductory period expires, the APR reverts to a market rate—which for the Discover it Business card is between 12.99% to 20.99%, depending on creditworthiness. For a small business owner, the introductory APR is a major perk. By giving you 12 months to pay off major purchases made at account opening—such as office equipment or a new computer—without having to pay interest charges, it allows you cash-flow flexibility and more. 
• First Year Cash Back Matching Bonus: Not all cards with no annual fee offer a cash bonus. That makes the incentive offered with the Discover it Business card welcome, even if it falls short of the best bonuses for no-annual-fee business credit cards. At the end of your first year as a cardmember, Discover will automatically match all the cash back you earned throughout the year. There’s no limit to how much you receive from this offer. The more you spend, then, the more you earn. If you earned $300 in cash back rewards, for example, Discover would give you a dollar-for-dollar match, giving you a total of $600 in rewards. Earnings of $600 would yield a bonus of that amount, for a total of $1,200, and so on.

Cons Explained

• Limited Benefits: While the Discover it Business card has valuable rewards and a cash back year end matching bonus, its benefits are comparatively minimal, as with virtually all cards issued by Discover. You do get free credit cards for up to 50 employees, but little else—and those are all but standard among the card's competitors anyway. In particular, this card, like most others from Discover, falls short on travel-related extras. It joins most no-annual-fee cards in lacking luxury benefits found on travel cards with fees, like travel credits, airport lounge access, and free upgrades at hotels. It even lacks some features that are frequently offered by competing no-fee cards, such as rental-car insurance coverage, travel insurance, and extended warranty protection.

The Discover it Business card best suits a small business owner who wants a no-fee credit card that provides simple rewards for everyday purchases. While some other business credit cards offer higher reward rates, many of those alternatives offer different rewards for different spending categories, which complicates matters. By contrast, the Discover it Business card gives you the same 1.5% cash-back rate on every purchase. 

This card is also a decent choice for use abroad, since it doesn’t have the foreign-transaction fee, typically of 3%, that many cards impose on purchases made outside the country.

If you’re occasionally forgetful about paying your business' bills, or experience cash-flow crunches that prevent you from doing so for a little while, you might appreciate this card's absence of a penalty APR. Imposed by some cards when payments are missed entirely, these higher punitive interest rates often kick in not only for the month you missed a payment but for some time after that as well.     

Discover it Business Bonus

With most credit cards, you can earn a bonus if you spend a certain amount of money within the first few months of opening an account. However, the Discover it Business card creates its bonus in a different way. 

In short, it determines your bonus based on how much you spend in the initial 12 months of account membership. After that first year is over, Discover will match all of the cash back you and other employees who are on the account earned during that period. There’s no limit to how much you can earn, so this bonus can be lucrative. 

For example, let’s say you charged $5,000 on business supplies, such as equipment, supplies, and advertising to the Discover it Business card during your first year with the card. At 1.5% cash back, you’d earn $75 in rewards on those purchases. But the card's Cashback Match would double those earnings, meaning you’d actually get $150 in rewards for buying those supplies—and enjoy a 3% cash back rate over that first year. 

Rewards Earning Details

The Discover it Business card's rewards structure is simple: you’ll earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase you make. There’s no cap to how much you can earn, and your rewards never expire. 

Rewards Redemption Details

When it comes to redeeming your rewards, Discover offers several options. You can redeem your cash back as an electronic deposit, statement credit, or charitable donation when you have accrued as little as one cent. 

If you'd prefer to redeem your rewards for gift cards or eCertificates from retail partners, you can do so once you have at least $5 in rewards. 

An additional, potentially lucrative option is to exchange the cash back for a gift card at Discover partners, which include American Eagle, Banana Republic, Gap, L.L. Bean, Bath and Body Works, Omaha Steaks, Old Navy, Black Angus, Foot Locker, Nike, and Under Armour. 

You must accrue at least $5 in rewards to redeem them for gift cards. For the other redemption methods, you can redeem rewards when you have earned as little as one cent.

While such partners may not necessarily be compatible with business expenditures, gift cards from them might be useful as thank-you gifts to your employees, suppliers or clients.

How to Maximize Your Rewards

To get the most value from your card, use it for every business purchase you make—especially if you don't carry any other business cards that might offer better returns on at least some of your spending. 

Such blanket use will be especially lucrative during your first year as a cardmember, when the card's match of all the cash back you earn means you’ll effectively earn 3% cash back on every purchase. That’s an exceptional rate of return for any business credit card. 

If you're more than a one-person enterprise, consider adding cards on the account for anyone who works for you who makes purchases as part of their job. Having these employees use a company card will not only maximize the rewards your business earns but minimize the cost and hassle of tracking expenses as well. Most or all of the business' purchases will be conveniently listed on the same credit-card account.

Standard Benefits

• Download transactions to Quicken, Quickbooks, or Excel
• Free employee cards

Cardholder Experience

When it comes to customer experience, Discover gets very high marks. According to the 2021 J.D. Power Small Business Credit Card Satisfaction Study, Discover was the third-ranked card issuer, beating out seven other companies.

The card allows you to check your FICO credit score for free, and Discover’s customer service team is based in the United States. You can get help 24 hours a day, seven days a week via online chat or by calling 1-800-DISCOVER. 

Security Features

The Discover it Business card has some basic security features that are standard for business credit cards. Discover, as with many other card issuers, allows you to freeze and unfreeze your account as needed and to monitor your credit report online or through the mobile app. The company will notify you if there is suspicious activity, and you're never responsible for unauthorized charges, which are also standard features. Discover also provides free Social Security Number alerts to notify you if your information appears on the dark web, if activated.

Our Verdict

If you're a small-business owner looking for a straightforward rewards card for your routine expenses, the Discover it Business card is a smart choice. There's no need to worry about remembering spending categories, and you’ll earn 1.5% cash back on every purchase you make. Thanks to the bonus, your rewards rate is actually 3% cash back for your first year as a cardmember. 

With a 0% introductory APR offer for 12 months on new purchases, it’s also a good option if you’re planning on making a major purchase. You’ll get interest-free financing for a whole year. 

The Discover it Business card offers simplicity and decent rewards. However, it may be worth pairing it with another business credit card that offers a higher rewards rate and more benefits—particularly after the first year ends and Discover's CashBack Match offer expires. For example, the Chase Ink Business Preferred card has a $95 annual fee, but you'll earn 3 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent on combined travel, shipping, internet, cable, phone, and advertising purchases. With every point worth about 1.6 cents, according to Investopedia's valuation, you'd earn considerably more in those categories than with the Discover it Business card. Adding another business card will also allow you access to travel features the Discover it Business lacks, like rental-car coverage, travel insurance, and roadside dispatch. The Chase Ink Business Preferred adds all three of those, as does the the Chase Ink Business Unlimited card, which has no annual fee. The Spark Cash from Capital One, with a $95 annual fee, also offers them, along with a flat 2% cash-back on all purchases.