Written by Ali Cybulski, Published on 6/14/2024
Discover® Bank, a federally insured institution owned and operated by Discover Financial Services, offers online and mobile banking for a suite of deposit products. The bank has a checking account, savings account and money market account as well as a certificate of deposit (CD) and individual retirement accounts (IRAs).
The online bank promotes no monthly fees on any account and no insufficient funds or overdraft fees on checking, savings and money market accounts. In addition, customer service is available 24/7 at 800-347-7000.
A Discover Cashback Debit account earns 1% cash back on up to $3,000 in debit card purchases monthly. The account comes with access to more than 60,000 no-fee ATMs and fee-free overdraft protection. Other perks: You can get your paycheck up to two days early when you enroll in direct deposit, and you won’t pay for check reorders or expedited delivery of a replacement debit card.
The bank’s high-yield Online Savings Account earns an annual percentage yield (APY) of 4.25% as of June 7, 2024, and requires no minimum deposit. You won’t be charged for stop payments, returned items or excessive withdrawals.
A Money Market Account earns 4.00% APY for balances of less than $100,000 and 4.05% APY for balances of $100,000 or more as of June 7, 2024. The account features no minimum opening deposit and no fees for online bill pay or standard checks, returned items, excessive withdrawals and insufficient funds.
CDs come in terms from three months to 10 years, with a minimum initial opening deposit of $2,500. The 12-month CD earns a 4.70% APY as of June 7, 2024. Keep in mind that all CDs have early withdrawal penalties based on term length if you need to access your cash early.
Discover Bank also offers IRA CDs with terms from three months to 10 years and a minimum initial deposit of $2,500. Choose from traditional or Roth IRAs, or you can have both. Early withdrawal penalties apply, and the penalty depends on your CD’s term.
Discover Bank pros and cons
Pros:
• Cash back on debit card purchases
• Competitive rates
• No fees on deposit products
Cons:
• Steep $2,500 minimum to open CDs
• No branches for in-person service
• Limited account options
Snagged A 4.4% APY
Grabbed $250K worth of 4.4% APY 10 year on 1/18/23. Sleep like a baby!
No Real Problems Here
I thought I would at least provide a positive experience with Discover Bank in light of many negative reviews. I've had CDs at Discovery since 2007 and never had any problems maintaining the accounts. However, with the acquisition of Discovery by Capital One, I decided to retrieve one of my CDs upon maturity since I also have accounts at Capital One and would eventually run into FDIC insurance limits. I called Discover on a Tuesday morning, the day the CD matured, and was connected to an agent within a minute or two. Matured funds are sent by check and I received the check in the mail the following Monday. No real complaints about that. One can argue that Discover should do ACH transfers to an external linked account. They are a bit old fashioned in that regard. However, I've had banks close out matured CDs and it has typically taken 10 or more days to physically get the check in the mail. So Discover is not bad in that regard.
Nasty Change To Bill Pay
Discover Bank just made a nasty change to their Bill Pay. A new rule prohibits scheduling a payment for more than the current balance in my checking account. I have always entered bill payments as soon as I get a bill, scheduling them for the due date, and transferred money out of savings a day or 2 before to cover them. Now I have to either transfer the funds into checking when I get the bills (losing interest), or wait until a couple of days before the due date and hope that I remember to schedule the payment and that nothing prevents me from accessing my account. I've been happy with Discover for 3 years, but this bone-headed change cramps my style & really irritates me.
Never Do A Discover CD
I saw a previous message about doing a CD with Discover. I will say I will never do this again.
I deposited the money via the website. My CD matured. I called Discover and was told $30 to wite money to my account. Ok, I opted for mailing the check. 7-10 business days lady quoted and I could have swore she said FedEx. Well after five days I called Discover. Representative tells me they send it out regular mail and there is no tracking! I inquire were is check derived from? "Not sure where it's coming from and when check was mailed"... WTF! So your telling me you sent me a check with no tracking and no idea where money is being mailed from. So, closed CD on the 5th of June. Today is the 15th and NO CHECK!.
NEVER AGAIN WILL I DO A CD WITH DISCOVER..
Data as of Q1 2025
Health Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 4297 |
| Year Established | 1933 |
| Employees | 68666 |
| Primary Regulator | OCC |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 1.26% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 10.72% |
| Annual Interest Income | $11.41B |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $490.6B$478.9B |
| Loans | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $308.4B$301.4B |
| Deposits | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $388.7B$374.2B |
| Equity Capital | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $59.19B$53.29B |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $15.9B$15.38B |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $5.77B$5.77B |
| Real Estate Owned | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $48.5MM$42.3MM |