Discover it Chrome

Rewards by category

Our take

Discover it Chrome is the no-homework member of the Discover it family. Where the Discover it Cash Back makes you activate a new 5% category every quarter, the Chrome pays a standing 2% at gas stations and restaurants with nothing to switch on. The trade is the ceiling: that 2% applies to the first $1,000 of gas and restaurant purchases each calendar quarter, and the two categories share one bucket rather than getting $1,000 each. Past the cap, and everywhere else, the card earns 1%. There is no annual fee.

Run the arithmetic before you decide where this sits in a wallet. A full $1,000 a quarter is $4,000 a year across both categories, which at 2% pays $80 — about $40 more than a plain 1% card would have paid on the same spending. That is real but small, and it is the most the bonus can ever be worth. The definitions narrow it further: Discover says gas station purchases are those at merchants classified as selling automotive gasoline at the pump or inside the station, and some public EV charging stations count, but gas stations affiliated with supermarkets, supercenters and wholesale clubs may not be eligible. On the restaurant side, full-service restaurants, cafes, cafeterias, fast-food locations and restaurant delivery services qualify, while a restaurant inside a hotel or a retail store, or a business classified as a bakery, may not.

The first year is the card's best year, because Cashback Match doubles all the cash back you earn with no limit — effectively 4% on the capped gas and restaurant spending and 2% on everything else, for twelve months only. SwipeCaddy does not rank that: it is an account-level, first-year doubler rather than a category rate, so the rankings show the durable 2% and 1% you will still have in year two. Treat the Chrome as a small bonus slot next to a flat-rate card that beats 1%, not as the card you hand over for everything.

The math

Run $400 a month of dining through this card and you're earning about $96 a year at our conservative valuations. There's no annual fee to earn back — everything above the 1% base rate is pure upside.

Key benefits

• No annual fee
• First-year Cashback Match doubles all the cash back you earn, with no limit

Common questions

Does Discover it Chrome have an annual fee?

No — Discover it Chrome has no annual fee.

What does Discover it Chrome earn on dining?

2% on dining (up to $1,000/qtr (combined); lower rate after the cap).

What rewards does Discover it Chrome earn on everything else?

1% on all other purchases, in Cash Back.

How does the $1,000 quarterly cap on the Discover it Chrome work?

It is one combined bucket, not one per category. Gas and restaurant purchases both draw down the same $1,000 of quarterly spending, so $700 of fuel leaves only $300 of restaurant spending at 2% that quarter. The quarters are calendar quarters beginning January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1, and the counter resets at the start of each one. Everything past the cap earns the 1% base rate.

Which gas and restaurant purchases actually earn the 2%?

Gas counts when the merchant is classified as a place that sells automotive gasoline you can buy at the pump or inside the station, and some public electric vehicle charging stations qualify too. Gas stations affiliated with supermarkets, supercenters and wholesale clubs may not be eligible, so filling up at a warehouse-club pump can quietly earn 1%. Restaurants include full-service restaurants, cafes, cafeterias, fast-food locations and restaurant delivery services, but a restaurant inside or affiliated with another business such as a hotel or a retail store, or a merchant classified as a bakery, may not qualify. No activation is required either way.