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Discover Bank review: Credit card giant with a wide range of deposit products and financing options

Yahoo Personal Finance· Getty Images
Ivana Pino
Updated 6 min read

Discover Bank launched nationally in 1986 with the Discover Card. Since its founding, Discover has expanded from a credit card issuer to an online bank, offering a wide range of credit cards, including rewards credit cards, credit cards for building credit, fee-free credit cards, and more. It also offers several online bank accounts, including a cash-back checking account, a high-yield savings account, certificates of deposit (CDs), money market accounts (MMAs), and retirement accounts.

Discover currently offers the following products and account options:

Discover may be best known for its credit card products. Its product menu includes credit cards for just about every kind of customer. It offers cash-back credit cards, airline travel credit cards, low-interest credit cards, balance transfer credit cards, credit cards for college students, annual fee-free cards, and credit-building cards.

Discover’s online checking account allows customers to earn 1% cash back on up to $3,000 in monthly debit card purchases. This account also offers early paycheck access and fee-free overdraft protection without any monthly fees, minimum balance requirements, or insufficient funds fees.

Discover’s high-yield savings account currently offers an annual percentage yield, or APY, well above 4% without charging any monthly fees or requiring a minimum opening deposit. Interest on your balance compounds daily and is paid monthly.

Discover’s MMA offers a more than 4% APY for balances under $100,000 and a slightly higher APY for balances of $100,000 and over. The minimum deposit amount to open an account is $2,500, but there is no required minimum balance or account-related fees.

Discover’s CDs come in a wide range of terms from three months to 10 years. These accounts require a $2,500 minimum opening deposit. There aren’t any monthly fees associated with this account, but making an early withdrawal from your CD could result in an early withdrawal penalty of up to 24 months simple interest, depending on your CD term.

Discover offers tax-advantaged online savings accounts and CDs for retirement savers. These accounts don’t charge monthly maintenance fees or require a minimum deposit.

Discover offers personal loans of up to $40,000 with rates from 7.99% - 24.99% APR, no upfront fees or prepayment penalties, and terms ranging from three to seven years.

Discover’s home equity loans allow you to borrow against the equity you’ve built in your home to make home improvements, consolidate debt, finance larger expenses, and more. Rates on these loans are fixed and range from 7.99% - 13.99% APR. Loan amounts range from $35,000 - $300,000 and repayment terms can be as long as 30 years. These loans don’t come with any application fees, origination fees, appraisal fees, or closing costs.

Discover’s mortgage refinancing allows homeowners to secure a better rate on their existing mortgage with fixed interest rates from 6.49% - 11.06% APR. This type of home loan doesn’t come with an application fee, appraisal fees, origination fees, or closing costs.

Here’s a closer look at the account fees Discover customers can expect to pay:

Basic checking account fee: $0

Basic savings account fee: $0

Overdraft fee: $0

ATM fee: $0

Outgoing wire transfer fee: $30

Customers should note a few major pros and cons before banking with Discover.

Discover Bank pros

  • No account or overdraft fees: Discover doesn’t charge any monthly maintenance fees for its online bank accounts or overdraft fees. It also doesn’t require a minimum balance to avoid fees.

  • Large ATM network: As a Discover customer, you can withdraw cash from a network of over 415,000 ATMs, with fee-free access to over 60,000 ATMs — if you value ATM access this could be a major perk.

  • Cash back checking account: Customers can quickly rack up cash-back rewards on their regular purchases with Discover’s no-fee checking account.

  • Multi-factor authentication and alerts for suspicious activity: Discover has safeguards in place to help customers protect themselves through fraud monitoring, fraud protection on debit card purchases, and multi-factor account verification.

Discover Bank cons

  • Higher opening deposits for CDs and MMA: While Discover offers competitive CD rates and money market APYs, customers need at least $2,500 to open a CD or MMA with Discover.

  • No reimbursement for out-of-network ATM fees: Discover doesn’t charge a fee to use ATMs within their network, however, the bank does clarify that using an out-of-network ATM may come with a fee and it does not make any mention of ATM reimbursement.

Online banking customers can get in touch with a customer service representative via telephone or mail 24/7, 365 days a year. It also offers a live chat feature customers can use to message an agent.

Discover’s mobile app is available on the App Store and Google Play for Apple and Android users. The app has a rating of 4.9 and 4.5, respectively. Some of the app’s key features include mobile check deposits, an ATM locator tool, online bill pay, debit card locking capabilities, and more.

Discover outlines its environmental and social goals on its website, which include reducing its Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50% from the 2017 baseline by 2030.

On the social impact front, Discover has set out to increase its local economic impact by hiring for 2,000 jobs and giving more than $530 million back to the communities it serves by 2025. It has also pledged to donate $125 million toward business diversity initiatives by 2025.

In 2022 alone, Discover reports spending $103 million with diverse-owned businesses, a 27% increase from 2021.

Is Discover Bank a real bank?

Yes, Discover Bank is a legitimate FDIC-insured online bank that is owned and operated by Discover Financial Services.

How do I deposit money into my Discover Bank online checking account?

There are a few options for depositing into your online checking account:

  • Online transfer from an external bank account to your Discover debit account.

  • Set up direct deposit so your employer can deposit some or all of your paycheck into your Discover account each payday.

  • Deposit a check payable to you via Discover’s mobile app.

  • Mail a check to Discover Bank made out to you with your account number in the memo line.

Does Discover Bank offer Zelle?

Discover accountholders can use Zelle to send and receive money, without any extra fees. To use Zelle, your account must be a registered checking, savings, or MMA opened at least 90 days prior.