Discover Bank Review: Checking, Savings and CDs
NerdWallet rating: 4.5/5.0
Where Discover shines:
- $150 and $200 bonus.
- 1% cash-back rewards checking account.
- Competitive savings rates.
- No monthly maintenance fees.
- Large ATM network.
Where Discover falls short:
- Only one physical branch location.
Where Discover shines:
- $150 and $200 bonus.
- 1% cash-back rewards checking account.
- Competitive savings rates.
- No monthly maintenance fees.
- Large ATM network.
Where Discover falls short:
- Only one physical branch location.
Where Discover shines:
- $150 and $200 bonus.
- 1% cash-back rewards checking account.
- Competitive savings rates.
- No monthly maintenance fees.
- Large ATM network.
Where Discover falls short:
- Only one physical branch location.
The bottom line
With Discover Bank checking, you can earn cash back on qualifying debit card purchases each month. The online bank also has a high-yield savings account that offers a $150 or $200 bonus, along with free access to a broad ATM network. Customers who really prefer to do their banking in person won’t like that Discover has only one physical branch.
Best if: You’re looking for rewards checking and a high-yield savings account.
Read on for details on Discover Bank’s checking, savings, CDs, bank experience and fees.
Checking: 4.5/5.0
Discover’s Cashback Debit1 is a rewards checking account that lets you earn 1% cash back for certain debit card transactions, on up to $3,000 in purchases.
More upsides:
No monthly fee: It’s rare to find a rewards checking account with no monthly service charge. Discover Cashback Debit offers this benefit, along with no monthly balance requirement.
Large ATM network: The account offers access to over 60,000 fee-free ATMs.
Annual fee forgiveness: The bank will waive one fee per calendar year: a stop-payment or insufficient-funds fee.
There is a downside for those unwilling to let go of face-to-face banking:
One physical branch: Unless you live near Greenwood, Delaware — where Discover Bank has its only branch — you’ll need to do your banking online.
How does Discover compare?
Cashback Debit
NerdWallet Rating
at Discover,
Member, FDIC
APY
N/A
Monthly Fees
$0
Bonus features
No Monthly Fee
10,000+ ATMs
Live help 24/7
Spending Account
NerdWallet Rating
at Chime,
Member, FDIC
APY
N/A
Monthly Fees
$0
Bonus features
No Monthly Fee
No overdraft/NSF fees
10,000+ ATMs
Fee-Free Checking Account
NerdWallet Rating
at Simple,
Member, FDIC
APY
0.01%
Monthly Fees
$0
Bonus features
No Monthly Fee
10,000+ ATMs
Mobile-friendly
Savings: 5.0/5.0
The Discover online savings account earns a very attractive 1.75% annual percentage yield, one of the best rates around.
More upsides:
No monthly fee: You won’t have to pay maintenance charges for this account. There are also no minimum balance requirements to earn interest.
Bonus: When you open a new account, you could be eligible for a bonus of $150 or $200.
Here’s a drawback:
Required deposit: To be eligible for the $150 or $200 bonus, the deposit requirement is a fairly hefty $15,000 or $25,000, respectively.
“What to know: Offer not valid for existing or prior Discover savings customers or existing or prior customers with savings accounts that are co-branded or affinity accounts provided by Discover. Account must be open when bonus is credited. Bonus will be credited to the account by 10/3/18. Bonus is considered interest and will be reported on IRS Form 1099-INT. Offer may be modified/withdrawn without notice.”
See Discover's website for more details.
CDs 5.0/5.0
The upside:
High rates: Discover Bank offers competitive terms on CDs, including 2.55% APY on three-year CDs and 2.85% APY on five-year CDs.
A downside:
High minimum: You’ll need at least $2,500 to open a CD.
» Want to compare rates? See our list of best CDs this month
Overdraft fees: 3.0/5.0
Discover Bank charges a $30 fee for insufficient funds transactions.
Some upsides:
Annual fee forgiveness: The charge is eligible for the bank’s fee forgiveness program, which waives one charge each year.
Daily fee limit: Your account is charged once a day for insufficient funds transactions, regardless of the number of items attempted. At other institutions, this type of fee is charged per item, multiple times a day. That could add up to hundreds of dollars in fees.
Free transfers from linked accounts: You can sign up to have free automatic transfers from a linked savings or money market account. If you have the funds in your backup account, the transfer would cover the cost of a transaction that would otherwise overdraw your checking account.
A downside:
The $30 fee: Online banks generally have low fees. But this one is close to the $35 to $38 overdraft fee that many large banks charge.
Bank experience: 4.0/5.0
The upsides:
Highly rated apps: Discover’s mobile banking apps receive high ratings from customers. The iOS version receives 4.8 stars out of 5; the Android app receives 4.6 stars out of 5.
24/7 live customer service: Representatives are available by phone every day. You also can reach the bank through mail, Twitter, and live chat.
The downside:
One branch: Discover’s only branch location is in Greenwood, Delaware.
MONEY IN your pocket
» Ready to take the next step? Discover Bank’s rewards checking and high savings rates mean you can keep and grow more of your own cash. The large ATM network is also a nice perk. If you don’t need to drive to a branch on a regular basis, this bank is worth a look.
Ratings methodology
NerdWallet’s overall ratings for banks and credit unions are weighted averages of several categories: checking, savings, certificates of deposit or credit union share certificates, customer experience and overdraft fees.
Factors we consider, depending on the category, include rates and fees, ATM and branch access, account features and limits, user-facing technology, customer service and innovation.
The stars represent ratings from poor (one star) to excellent (five stars). Ratings are rounded to the nearest half-star.
