Thread: Discover?

I won't be applying for an unsecured card for a few months now, (currently building credit with a secured card that I have had for 5 months and pay in full), but I'm curious about Discover. I have heard that they are likely to extend credit to those who are just starting out - is this true, even with the More card? Also, how are they with giving CLIs? Do they give them every 5-6 months or so when you pay in full every time? I guess I'm trying to see how they compare to CapitalOne since I've heard that while CO extends credit easily, they give low limits, and trying to get a CLI from them is almost impossible.

I can't speak to Discover as a company, yet. But from what I've been reading it sounds like the It is a better card than the More because it earns a full 1% rather than the tiered crap the More has.

Originally Posted by Vermonster

I can't speak to Discover as a company, yet. But from what I've been reading it sounds like the It is a better card than the More because it earns a full 1% rather than the tiered crap the More has.

Actually it looks like IT is a re-branding of the More card. This is from Discover's Terms and Conditions on the IT application as of today:

"REWARDS: We will send full terms and conditions with your card. Earn .25% Cashback Bonus® on your first $3000 in annual purchases and on all warehouse purchases made at warehouse clubs, wholesale distributors, discount stores and their affiliates. Earn 1% on purchases over $3000. Each quarterly 5% program has a cap on category purchases. The amount of the cap may change. 5% category purchases over the quarterly cap earn up to 1% Cashback Bonus. Warehouse and 5% category purchases do not count towards your first $3000."

As to Discover as a credit issuer. My personal experience is that they are more willing to give out initial credit than other places. However, do not expect them to give you big limits. It has been a long time since I first got my Discover so more recent examples may be needed. Also both Discover and Amex suffer from the same problem, they are not accepted as easily as Visa or MasterCard.

I am not sure about your financial status but here is what I would look for in a card if building my credit history all over again in order:
1. Annual Fee -- Make sure that the first credit card you apply for does not have an annual fee. This will allow you to leave the card open forever and start building a good AAoA.

2. Visa or MasterCard -- Accepted almost everywhere and plenty of issuing institution.

3a. Rewards -- While applying for rewards cards is not a bad thing, institutions are a bit more frugal with these cards than non-rewards cards. A non-rewards card with a $1000 limit will do more for your credit history than a rewards card with $500.

3b. Rewards 2.0 -- When applying for a rewards card carefully look at your spending habits (and future needs). There are few things are more frustrating than getting the "new hot rewards card" only to find it does not match your spending and another card would have done better.

Nothing about building good credit is fast. It is a slow steady climb up the credit mountain. Taking your time and planning your path is far better than rushing in and finding you have to backtrack.

Originally Posted by sticf

Actually it looks like IT is a re-branding of the More card. This is from Discover's Terms and Conditions on the IT application as of today:

"REWARDS: We will send full terms and conditions with your card. Earn .25% Cashback Bonus® on your first $3000 in annual purchases and on all warehouse purchases made at warehouse clubs, wholesale distributors, discount stores and their affiliates. Earn 1% on purchases over $3000. Each quarterly 5% program has a cap on category purchases. The amount of the cap may change. 5% category purchases over the quarterly cap earn up to 1% Cashback Bonus. Warehouse and 5% category purchases do not count towards your first $3000."

That is weird because the T&C I see says
"REWARDS: We will send full terms and conditions with your card. Each quarterly 5% program has a cap on category purchases and you must sign up for each program. The amount of the cap may change. 5% category purchases over the quarterly cap, and all other purchases, earn a full 1% cash back. Click here to see the current 5% program details."

As a side note, it looks like they're trying to put people on the It vs the More as I can't find the More on their site.

EDIT: look here http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Cred...ad/m-p/1754796

They must have just changed it today. I see your T&C statement now on the website. However that was not what was there this morning.

It makes it more competitive with the Freedom. Which is cool. However, I am still not putting my Discover back in my wallet. It is just not worth it to me.

Hmmm... Maybe in that case I'll just go with a Visa since those are more widely accepted, and it seems they are more likely to grow with you. I'm not really looking at the Chase Freedom so much as the Chase Amazon.com Rewards Visa, since I do quite a bit of shopping on there. However, I'm not sure how willing Chase is to issue credit to those with less than a year of history, even if it's really good. I've heard that they tend to be uneasy to lend to those with limited history, even if you pay your bills in full monthly.