The Lowdown on the Discover Student Card

While this credit card may appear to be like any other student credit card, upon further inspection, you will realize that the Discover Student Clear Card comes in a variety of flashy and funky designs.

Apart from that, internet account related services are also tagged along with the Discover Student Credit Card, with additional benefits such as no annual fee and a 0% introductory APR for the first six months or until the end of the billing cycle in December, whichever comes first.

Additionally, the Discover Student Credit Card also offers double cash rebates at participating stores through the Cashback Bonus award program. Fantastic! Plus, a 5% full cash rebate at participating retailers. Marvelous.

But all that glitters is not gold, and all that shimmers will fade away. Once the intro period is up, the APR for this credit card is found to hover on the high side of exorbitant rates.

Couple that with the demonic method of calculating finance charges called the “Two Cycles Average Daily Balance”, this card will suck the lifeblood out of your fledgling student finances. You will probably be put you into economic servitude and shackles through debt servicing. The only way out is not to accrue any outstanding balances, paying them off before charges apply.

From that point of view, the rest of the reward program starts to lose its shine. With the exception of the promotional offers mentioned earlier, it seems unreasonable to spend $3000 or above just to earn 1% cash rebate. Unless you actually have that kind of money, this is just another gimmick. And if the fact that the 1% will only apply to the sum above the first $3000 doesn’t tell you that this is a gimmick, what will?

In a nutshell, the Discover Student Clear Card, as it is officially called, is ideal if you regularly spend above $3000 a month and pay off the outstanding balance each month, or if you plan to take advantage of the Cashback Bonus it offers. Otherwise this card will just take advantage of you.


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