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Discover it Chrome Card Review

Written by Dayana Yochim
Edited by Carolyn Kimball
Fact-checked by Andrea Coombes

March 12, 2024

Why trust us? Investor.com has no financial relationship with any of the credit card providers whose products we analyze and review. Our opinions are based solely on data and our own extensive independent research — that means unbiased guidance for consumers. Rewards cards in our cashback credit card calculator are listed in descending order according to how much money they pay out annually based on the inputs.

For the first year of card ownership Discover it Chrome effectively pays 4% cash back on gas and grocery purchases by matching your earned rewards dollar-for-dollar. Beyond the honeymoon period, we think there are better cards if you're looking for a long-term rewards card relationship.

Talk about odd pairings. Discover it Chrome’s two bonus cash back categories are gas stations and dining establishments, which is the culinary equivalent of serving red wine with fish (very gauche, I've been told). The rewards rate on those two categories is a bland 2%. Even less palatable is the $1,000 quarterly spending cap on bonus-rate purchases combined, with 1% applying to all other spending. (As your server, let me direct your attention to our menu of best cash back cards for dining and a selection of tastier gas credit cards.)

Despite the Chrome card's limitations, committing to it for at least 12 months does pay off in the form of an unlimited dollar-for-dollar match on all the rewards dollars you earn in the first year. The same rewards-matching anniversary program is also available with the the perkier (5% cash back instead of 2%) Discover it Cash Back card. (See how the cards stack up against each other in Discover it Cash Back vs. Discover it Chrome.)

After collecting your Discover it Chrome anniversary bonus gift, it's worth your while to check out the growing universe of flat-rate 2% cash back cards offering an equal and unlimited rewards rate on all purchases — not just gas and dining.

The basics: Earn 2% cash back at gas stations and restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter. Earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases. New cardholder offers: Get an unlimited dollar-for-dollar match of all the cash back you earn at the end of your first year, automatically. Plus, 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers and 3% balance transfer fee (versus 5%) for a limited time.

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Monthly Spend

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dining Dining

theater_comedy Entertainment

local_gas_station Gas

shopping_cart Groceries

monetization_on Other

local_pharmacy Pharmacy

card_travel Travel

local_shipping Amazon

storefront Costco

construction Home Improvement

shopping_bag Online Shopping

smart_display Streaming

local_taxi Transit

power Utilities

kitchen Whole Foods

receipt_long Wholesale Clubs

Calculate Cash Back

Discover it Chrome Gas & Restaurant

Cashback Per Year

$...

Annual Fee

Welcome Bonus

2X Rewards your first year

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Want to compare more cards? Use our full calculator.

Discover it Chrome Gas & Restaurant pros and cons

thumb_up_off_alt Pros

Automatic 2% cash back on gas and restaurants spending
Dollar-for-dollar match on all earned rewards at the end of your first year
0% intro APR for on purchases and balance transfers
No foreign transaction fee
Accepted lots of places. Really!

thumb_down_off_alt Cons

2% applies only to first $1,000 on gas/dining per quarter
Low 1% cash back applies to all other purchases
Limited upside after year one bonus is paid out
Less competitive rewards structure than competition

Discover it Chrome Gas & Restaurant cashback rewards spending categories

The following table shows the cashback rewards rate per $1 spent in the six most common spending categories. The “Bonus Rate” refers to the amount you can earn in excess of the card’s standard rewards rate.

Some cashback cards limit the spending amount eligible for the bonus rate (aka the “Spend Cap”). Once you hit that cap (e.g., $1,500 spending in a particular category during a defined time period), the rewards rate on future purchases in that category reverts to the lower “Default Rate.”

Category	Default Rate	Bonus Rate	Bonus Spend Cap	Bonus Spend Period (Months)
Gas	1.00%	2.00%	$1,000	3
Travel	1.00%	-	-	-
Dining	1.00%	2.00%	$1,000	3
Entertainment	1.00%	-	-	-
Pharmacy	1.00%	-	-	-
Groceries	1.00%	-	-	-
Other Purchases	1.00%	-	-	-

Year One bonus cash offer: The Discover it Chrome Gas & Restaurant card automatically pays an unlimited dollar-for-dollar match on all the cash back you earn at the end of your first year. This earnings match is not reflected in the credit card calculator.

What we like

We’re crushing hard on Discover’s double cash back promotion for new cardholders. At the end of Year One it’ll match dollar-for-dollar every rewards buck you earn. That turns the Discover it Chrome card into a 2%-cash-back-on-everything card, and 4% on gas and restaurants (on the first $1,000 combined purchases each quarter).

Offers a 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers, giving cardholders some cash flow wiggle room.

No rewards enrollment required. Unlike the Discover it Cash Back Card, this card automatically applies the 2% rate to qualifying purchases. Same with the end-of-year bonus: no action is required to earn it.

2% cash back on gas and restaurants makes idling in the drive-thru lane bearable. (We have thoughts about the $1,000 quarterly spending cap on purchases eligible for the bonus rate and share them below.)

No minimum reward redemption amounts apply. Redemption options include direct deposit to a bank account, applying earnings as a statement credit and using rewards at checkout at Amazon.com and Paypal.

Charitable-minded cardholders can donate rewards earnings, though your benevolence is limited to select charities.

No foreign transaction fees is a boon for wordly types. Fun fact: None of Discover's cards charge foreign transaction fees.

Provides a free FICO score for up to a year online or on your monthly statement.

Discover points out that it is accepted by 99% of places in the U.S. that take credit cards, and also in 200 countries and territories. (TL,DR: This used to be a thing.)

What we don't like

The $1,000 quarterly spending cap on gas and restaurants combined is chintzy if you spend more than $330 and change per month. That limits your 2% cash back earnings to — drumroll, please — $20 per quarter. We’re withholding the cymbal crash. FWIW, the Discover it Cash Back card also has a quarterly rewards spending cap, albeit higher ($1,500 vs. $1,000).

And another thing … the Year One cash back match turns the $80 max you can earn annually on 2% rewards categories to just $160. It’s not nothing. But still.

p.s.: If you don’t hit the max one quarter, too bad. No carryovers allowed.

Choose your fill-up station and restaurants wisely. Gas purchased at supercenters/warehouse clubs does not qualify for the 2% cashback rate. And restaurants must be classified by Discover as full-service eateries (restaurants, cafes, cafeterias, fast food joints, etc.).

Higher gas rewards are available elsewhere. Fuel-focused consumers should check out what other issuers are offering, especially after the Chrome card's Year One rewards match period ends. (See our Guide to Best Gas Rewards Cards.) For example, both the PNC Cash Rewards Visa and Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi pay 4% cash back on gas station purchases.

Same with dining rewards. Cards that pay 3%-5% cash back may be a better fit for foodies. See our curated sampling of the best dining and grocery store rewards cards.

Don’t bother rummaging through the Discover it Chrome glove box looking for extra perks like rental/travel insurance, extended warranties, etc.

Rising balance-transfer fee. The 3% balance transfer fee applies only for a limited time. Any transfers made after the deadline will incur a 5% fee.

The bottom line

Is the Discover it Chrome Gas & Restaurant the best rewards card for your wallet? The answer depends entirely on your spending patterns. Let the numbers speak for themselves: Use the investor.com Cashback Credit Card Calculator to see which credit card pays back the highest rewards based on how much you spend each month.

Discover it Chrome Gas & Restaurant fine print

Discover it Chrome rates, fees and disclosures and details about the cashback bonus program.

Does the Discover it Chrome Gas & Restaurant charge an annual fee?

No, there is no annual fee for the Discover it Chrome Gas & Restaurant.

tips_and_updates Trivia time!

How common are annual fees? Roughly 17% of the consumer cash back cards we review charge an annual fee. They range from $39 to $99, with an average annual fee of $67.

Does the Discover it Chrome Gas & Restaurant offer a welcome bonus?

Yes, the Discover it Chrome Gas & Restaurant has a welcome bonus of 2X Rewards your first year.

tips_and_updates Fun fact

More than half (55%) of the consumer cash back credit cards we track in the investor.com database offer a welcome bonus, ranging from $30 up to $300. The average sign-up bonus for new cardholders is $197, with the median being $200.

How much cashback can I earn with the Discover it Chrome Gas & Restaurant?

The average American that spends $1000 per month will earn $154.20 in cash back per year using the Discover it Chrome Gas & Restaurant. For comparison, the average annual rewards payout from the cashback credit cards in the investor.com database is $191.26, and $180 is the median.

These calculations are based on average consumer spending data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the reward payout rates from the providers we track. Of course, you’re so much more than an average data point (aka “consumer unit,” in BLS parlance). The amount you can earn in cashback rewards using the Discover it Chrome Gas & Restaurant depends entirely on your unique spending habits.

Find out exactly how much you’ll rake in with the Discover it Chrome Gas & Restaurant by tailoring the spending inputs in the calculator above.

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Methodology

The results of the investor.com Credit Card Rewards Calculator are based on the monthly spending amounts you enter and the annual dollar value of the rewards each credit card program pays per $1 spent. Credit card companies often express this payout amount as a percentage (e.g., 1.5% of every dollar spent) or on a points basis (e.g. ,1.5 points for every dollar spent). We converted all of them to a dollar amount (“Cash Back Per Year”) to make comparing offers easier.

To calculate the amount of cash back you could earn per year, we factored in:

Spend category inputs: The default dollar values for each “Spend Category” in the Best Cashback Credit Cards tool — gas, groceries, travel, restaurant, entertainment, pharmacy, other — are based on average American spending data from the Consumer Expenditure Surveys from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We also include additional spend categories (such as streaming services, online shopping, utilities, transit, Amazon and more) to help you see which rewards cards are most closely aligned with your actual spending patterns. We encourage you to customize the monthly spend inputs for the most accurate results.
Tiered rewards rates: If a rewards credit card pays higher cashback rates on certain spending categories (also called “Bonus Rewards”), that difference is reflected in the total “Cash Back Per Year” tally.
Rewards spending caps: Some cards impose category- or time-based limits (monthly, quarterly, annually) that affect the amount of rewards you can earn. For example, a card may pay 3% cash back on groceries on up to $1,000 of spending each quarter, then revert to the base/default rewards rate until the following quarter. We accounted for bonus spending caps and timeframe in the calculations.
Default rewards rates: Purchases that exceed a spending cap are usually subject to a lower default rewards rate (e.g., 1% or 1.5%). We mathed that out too.
Annual fees: If a rewards card charges an annual fee, we deducted that amount from the “Cash Back Per Year” total to provide a true accounting of a card’s annual rewards payout.

What’s not included in the “Cash Back Per Year” total is the cash value of any sign-up/introductory bonus. We highlight any Welcome Bonus separately. While sign-up bonuses can be the most lucrative part of getting a new cashback rewards credit card, not everyone will want or be able to do what it takes to earn the extra cash. (It usually requires spending a certain amount in a specified time period after the card is activated.)

About the Editorial Team

Dayana Yochim has been writing (articles, books, podcasts, stirring speeches) about personal finance and investing for more than two decades, focusing on bringing clarity and the occasional comedic aside to what is often a murky, humorless topic. She’s written for NerdWallet, The Motley Fool, HerMoney.com, Woman’s Day, Forbes, Newsweek and others, and been a guest expert on "Today," "Good Morning America," CNN, NPR and wherever they’ll hand her a mic.

Carolyn Kimball is a former managing editor for Reink Media Group and investor.com. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money.

Andrea Coombes has 20+ years of experience helping people reach their financial goals. Her personal finance articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, MarketWatch, Forbes, and other publications, and she's shared her expertise on CBS, NPR, "Marketplace," and more. She's been a financial coach and certified consumer credit counselor, and is working on becoming a Certified Financial Planner. She knows that owning pets isn't necessarily the best financial decision; her dog and two cats would argue this point.