Just in time for the winter holiday shopping season, Discover has earned recognition for its cashback reward redemption technology, and it's offering a special cashback bonus for the holiday season.

InformationWeek magazine has ranked Discover 77th on its annual InformationWeek 500 list, a ranking of businesses that implement innovative technologies. According to InformationWeek Editor In Chief Rob Preston, this year's rankings looked specifically at digital business and how companies are using customer-centric technologies like data analytics, mobile computing and social networking to change the way they and their industries do business. "Every enterprise is now a digital business -- or needs to become one fast," said Preston in a statement.

The publication recognized Discover for its new technology platform for redeeming cashback rewards while shopping online. With it, Discover customers can shop at particular online shopping sites and can opt to use some or all of their Cashback Bonus or Miles Rewards to pay for their purchases. Customers can even choose not to use their bonus rewards.

"With an increase in consumers shopping online, it was important for Discover to quickly respond to this trend and provide an innovative solution for our customers and merchant partners," said Glenn Schneider, chief information officer for Discover, in a statement. "The creation of this new platform is another example of our technology team working with our business to deliver game-changing solutions to achieve business goals."

As an example, Discover cardholders can use this feature at Amazon.com. They can apply any or all of their bonus dollars toward eligible purchases. There's no required minimum, and if there's a balance on the receipt, that amount will be charged to the credit card.

Discover has also announced that it's offering extra Cashback Bonus dollars on online holiday purchases. Through December 31, 2013, cardholders can earn five percent cash back on their Internet purchases. This offer is good for the first $1,500 the cardholder spends, which translates in up to $75 back.

Cardholders need to register for this special offer, and it's good for online purchases in many categories, including apparel, electronics, toys and gifts. If the cardholder spends more than $1,500 cumulatively, they'll still earn the standard Cashback Bonus on purchases above that spending limit. To register, cardholders can go to their account online or call 1-800-DISCOVER.

In November, Discover's online shopping portal will be offering temporary Cashback Bonus increases in anticipation of the holiday shopping season. Starting on November 7 and running until January 8, 2014, over 85 of ShopDiscover's 200 plus online retailers will boost their Cashback Bonus percentages by five points. Some of these retailers include Sears, Nordstrom, Toshiba and Macy's, all of which will offer a limited ten percent bonus. 1800Flowers will increase its Cashback Bonus to 20 percent.

The merchants not participating in the holiday shopping bonus program will still offer ShopDiscover's standard cashback offers of anywhere from five to twenty percent.

"At Discover, we're always offering a variety of ways for cardmembers to earn more Cashback Bonus quickly and easily. By enrolling in our 5% Cashback Bonus program and also shopping through ShopDiscover this holiday season, we think cardmembers will be amazed at how quickly their rewards will grow," said Brian Meier, director of rewards marketing at Discover, in a statement. "Then, in just a few clicks, they can use rewards to select from millions of items at Amazon.com. We believe this simplicity and convenience can only enhance our cardmembers' online shopping experience."

Cardholders can take advantage of these short-term shopping bonuses by going to ShopDiscover and clicking through to the retailer's website.