As I’ve shared plenty of times over the years, the Discover It card holds a special place in my heart as it was the first credit card I selected after determining I was no longer scared of such things and could trust myself to use credit responsibly. It’s also the “wild card” in my wallet thanks to its rotating 5% cash back categories that change quarterly (the current category is “dining” in case you were wondering). However, there is one perk to this particular card that I feel doesn’t get discussed too often and yet has become one of my favorite features.
When you add your Discover It card to Amazon as a form of payment, you can not only view your cash back balance but even elect to pay for your purchase using your found money. As a result, I find myself using this functionality with some frequency. In fact, I’ve unofficially made my Discover cash back my morning coffee fund as I seem to end up using it reload on K-cups. I suppose this strategy makes it so I don’t need to feel as guilty about splurging for the good stuff (or as good as coffee brewed through a plastic cup can be).
Now, I should mention that this routine actually isn’t the most effective way to use your Discover rewards. That’s because you can also use your cash back balance to purchase discounted gift cards, scoring an extra $5 or more each time. For the record, Amazon is not one of the nearly 100 retailers that offer gift cards through Discover’s marketplace (although that would be even more awesome). On the other hand, depending on what you’re buying, there is the chance that buying from Amazon instead of another store could save you more — even with the bonus gift added in. In my case, using my reward to buy coffee means I’m not hitting up Starbucks, so I’m clearly coming out on top there.
Truth be told, I doubt that Discover’s Amazon integration is really going to push anyone considering the card over the top. Still, I’ve found it be a really handy and, thus, underrated feature that’s allowed me some guilt-free splurges. So, if that sounds up your alley, you can check out my full review of the card over on Dyer News.