Just in time for the holiday shopping season, Discover has made some changes to its Cashback Bonus rewards program, launched a new shopping site and has new Cashback bonus categories for the last quarter of the year.
First, the company has revamped how cardmembers can redeem Cashback Bonus rewards. The Cashback Bonus program is one of Discover's legacies, it being the first card to offer this type of rewards program, which returns a portion of purchase amounts back to cardholders. Since the program's inception in 1986, Discover's cardmembers have earned more than $12 billion in Cashback Bonus money.
The new changes to the program give cardholders more flexibility in when and how they can redeem rewards. Previously, cardholders had to have a certain amount of cash rewards on their statement before they could redeem them for cash or apply the money to their account balance. Now cardholders will be able to redeem their Cashback Bonuses no matter how much money is in the account, and they can choose one of four ways in which to redeem their rewards: apply the amount to their existing card balance, deposit the money directly into a bank account, apply it to online purchases made through Discover's online partners, which can boost the Cashback Bonus amount by 7 to 100 percent, or use the money to make a charitable donation.
Additionally, Cashback Bonus rewards no longer have an expiration date attached to their rewards, which makes it easier to build up rewards even if you don't use your card that often. Discover will also no longer require cardholders to forfeit their rewards if they close their account or if the account is deemed inactive. Instead, the Cashback Bonus will be credited to them.
"We know our customers want the most rewards possible, but equally important is their ability to use them when they want," said Heather L. Roche, vice president of rewards at Discover, in a statement. "We are excited to give our cardmembers more redemption flexibility."
To make its online shopping portal more attractive, Discover has also consolidated its ShopDiscover.com website and Discover Extras program into a new shopping venture called Discover Deals. Cardmembers can get instant savings at checkout, extra Cashback Bonus rewards or statement credits when they shop at certain stores either online or in person.
The deals site is available on the Internet or also through Discover's mobile app, allowing cardholders to access deals when they're in stores contemplating purchases. Cardmembers can shop in a variety of categories, including restaurants, fashion and accessories, travel, sporting goods and outdoor, home and garden, and deals designed specially for the holidays. Cardmembers can collect on more than 150 deals that are available through the site. Major stores such as Kohl's, Macy's, Dell Consumer, Travelocity, Sports Authority, Boston Market and Corner Bakery are participating in the site.
Discover's quarterly Cashback Bonus special shopping category bonus is also in effect. For the holidays, Discover is also offering a five percent Cashback Bonus on up to $1,500 in online shopping and department store purchases. This offer is good on purchases made between October 1 and December 31 of this year. Cardmembers must activate the offer online through their account at Discover.com or by calling 1-800-DISCOVER.
"This holiday season, Discover is upping the ante with a popular Cashback Bonus category to help our cardmembers see savings, not dollar signs," said Roche in a statement. "Consumers often stretch their wallets the most this time of year, and we want to make that experience a little less stressful and a lot more rewarding for Discover cardmembers."
