If you have the popular Discover it Cash Back credit card, this is the day you may have been waiting on.
Discover has unveiled its 5% cash back categories for the entire 2022 calendar year! If you fully utilize them, these bonus categories can earn you an additional $300 in cash back.
This credit card offers rotating 5% cash back on popular spending categories, a 14-month 0% introductory period on new purchases and a cash-back-match welcome bonus on all of your spending in the first year of card membership. It’s featured on several of Team Clark’s “best of” credit card roundups.
Here’s what you need to know about the 2022 cash back category announcement.
2022 Discover it Cash Back Bonus Categories
Each year Discover designates spending categories that will earn 5% in cash back on purchases for three months of the year.
These quarterly bonuses are capped at $1,500 in spending. That’s good for $75 in cash back if you max out a bonus category in any given quarter.
Any spending in that bonus category beyond the $1,500 cap is rewarded at 1% cash back.
Here’s the 2022 Discover it bonus calendar.
Quarter 1: Grocery Stores and Fitness Club & Gym Memberships
Reward Period: January 1, 2022-March 31, 2022
The Specifics: Playing to the New Years’ resolution crowd, Discover is rewarding things like personal fitness and home cooking with the year’s first bonus category. Note that the grocery store bonus does not include Walmart and Target purchases, nor does it include wholesale clubs such as Costco or Sam’s Club.
Quarter 2: Target and Gas Stations
Reward Period: April 1, 2022-June 30, 2022
The Specifics: Target fans will get the chance to make up for the Quarter 1 snub on groceries with a full three months to enjoy 5% back at Target in Quarter 2.
Also, those of us who plan on a late spring or early summer road trip can enjoy 5% back on gas station purchases during this quarter.
Quarter 3: Restaurants and PayPal
Reward Period: July 1, 2022-September 30, 2022
The Specifics: This quarter should be easy for many people to get their full $75 in bonus rewards. Discover offered this as the Quarter 3 reward category in 2021, and I found that I easily maxed it out before the end of September.
Not only will you get the 5% back any time you swipe for food at a restaurant (sit down, take out, drive-thru or otherwise), the inclusion of PayPal makes it really easy to get the 5% if you use PayPal to make online purchases. You can even use it as a mobile payment option in many stores.
Remember: In order to get the 5% back through PayPal you must use your Discover card as the payment method during the PayPal transaction.
Quarter 4: Amazon.com and Digital Wallets
Reward Period: October 1, 2022-December 31, 2022
The Specifics: When it comes time for gift buying, Discover has you covered with a few online and in-person spending options for the final bonus category of 2022.
Amazon.com is obviously one of the most popular online shopping destinations around, and the inclusion of digital wallets gives you some really flexible in-store spending options at many other retailers.
Discover says that “digital wallets” includes the use of Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and Garmin Pay. You’ll want to make sure you’re using your Discover card within these digital wallets in order to get your bonus rewards.
And if you’ve had your Discover card for a while, you may already be aware that it can be integrated with your Amazon.com account so that you can use your credit card cash back rewards as the payment method for Amazon purchases.
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