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If you’re in college with a limited credit history, Discover Student Credit Cards can offer a great way to build a solid credit foundation by learning to practice good spending habits. Discover card cashback offers can also be a great way for you to get rewarded for the expenses you normally spend at school.
Discover offers two great student cards: Discover it® Student cashback as well as Discover Chrome for Students. The main difference between the two is how they earn cashback, one is a spinning category card earning a high 5 percent and the other is a fixed bonus category card for popular student categories like gas and meals. Your spending habits, whether you spend money in different categories or just a few, largely determine which card you prefer.
Main details
| Card |
Discover it® Student cashback |
 Discover Chrome for Students |
|---|---|---|
| Interest rate |
|
|
| Welcome Bonus | Cashback Match™ | Cashback Match™ |
| Annual fee | $0 | $0 |
Discover it Student Cash Back vs Discover it Student chrome
Welcome offer
| Discover student cashback | Discover student chrome |
|---|---|
| Cashback Match (all cash earned at the end of the first year is matched) | Cashback Match (all cash earned at the end of the first year is matched) |
Winner: Tie
Both of these cards offer the same welcome bonus, which is a cashback equal to all the cash you earned in the first year of your account. This is automatically returned at the end of the year to all cash you earn, including any bonus rewards. So the card with the best card is the one that brings in the most rewards during the first year. Since you can potentially earn more money with Discover it Student Cash Back, it should be considered as the best welcome bonus.
Interest rate
| Discover student cashback | Discover student chrome |
|---|---|
|
|
Winner: Discover student cashback
The Discover it Student Chrome Card offers solid rewards, but $1,000 quarterly spending (about $334 per month) can limit your earnings. In contrast, Discover it Student Cash Back gives high rewards for rotating categories, and based on the published 2022 calendar, you can get 5 percent cash back at restaurants and PayPal during July, August, and September. Purchases on Amazon.com and digital wallet will be available in the fourth quarter of 2022. So if you can take advantage of these categories, then a student Cash Back card will probably be better for you.
Annual fee
| Discover student cashback | Discover student chrome |
|---|---|
| $0 | $0 |
Winner: Tie
It’s a draw as all Discover cards, including these two, have no annual fee. This way you don’t have to worry about making the most of your card to recoup any expenses spent on annual fees.
Foreign transaction fee
| Discover student cashback | Discover student chrome |
|---|---|
| No fees for foreign transactions | No fees for foreign transactions |
Winner: Tie
This is another draw because all Discover cards, including these two, have no foreign transaction fees. Just note that Discover cards are not as widely accepted in some countries as cards from other payment networks.
What card should you get?
It really comes down to your spending habits. The Discover it Student chrome is better geared towards those on a budget and spending money securely across multiple categories, while the Discover it Student Cashback is more suited to new cardholders who have the time and money to maximize the number of rotating categories.
- If you have a limited budget: Student Chrome will be much easier to maximize thanks to the $1,000 per quarter spending limit. Even if you spend $334 a month on gas and food, you’ll still earn about $80 in cash per year and $160 in your first year with Cashback Match.
- If you spend mostly on gas and foodA: Then Discover it Student Chrome is perfect for you, especially if you don’t want to worry about keeping track of bonus offers that change every quarter.
- If you need constant valueA: You won’t stay in college forever, and after graduation, you’ll likely spend money in more diverse categories than you did during your college days. For working adults, the $1,000 limit on student chrome is pretty limited, while student cashback (which you can later upgrade to Discover® Cash Back) can give you more long-term value.
- If you can maximize category rotation: Discover it Student Cash Back, for all its great potential, will only be worth it if you can organize your expenses into changing categories. Once you reach the $1,500 spending limit, you get a $75 quarterly refund, giving you $300 refunds for the entire year. And after the Cashback Match offer, you’ll get $600 for your first year.
bottom line
Having a student credit card is mostly about having a secure and convenient payment method while learning how to use credit responsibly. But if rewards are important to you, you should choose a card that offers you the highest possible cash back for spending you will be making anyway.
In addition to no annual fees, these student cards also charge no interest and automatically exempt your account from the first late fee. Regardless of which one you choose, they are both great starter cards to help you build credit and start your credit journey.
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