Discover Increases New Online Savings Account Bonus

Good news – the long-running Online Savings bonus offered by Discover continues to be available.

Better news – the previous $150/$200 bonus has been significantly improved: $150 or $450. (This is the first time the upper-end bonus has been greater than $200.) The current promotion runs through November 8, 2022 and is available to new customers only: existing or prior Discover savings customers are not eligible.

Bonus Requirements

As stated on Discover's promotion page, the bonus requirements are as follows:

• Open a new Online Savings account by November 8, 2022.
• Use offer code BONUS1022E when applying.
• $150 bonus – fund with at least $15k* within 30 days of account opening.
• $450 bonus – fund with at least $35k* within 30 days of account opening.
• Maximum bonus is $450 per account.
• Not available to existing or previous Discover savings customer.
• Account must be opened when bonus is credited.
• Bonus will be credited within 30 days of the account qualifying for the bonus.

*The fine print on the promotion page reads, “Deposit into your account a total of at least $15k/$35k,” implying that multiple deposits can be used to meet the $15k or $35k threshold. According to CSR, cumulative deposits are allowed, as long as they are made within 30 days of account opening.

Online Savings

The Online Savings account (OSA) currently earns 2.35% APY on all balances. The OSA has a long history of offering rates that have remained somewhat competitive. For the last four years, the OSA rates were consistently slightly below the average rate for online savings accounts, but the OSA’s stance has improved in the past few months: the current Discover OSA rate is 3 bps higher than the current average online savings account rate of 2.32% APY.

The Online Savings account has no minimum opening deposit requirement and no monthly maintenance fee or minimum balance fee.

While there is no Excessive Withdrawal Fee for certain types of withdrawals and transfers beyond the six allowed per month,

If you exceed these transaction limitations during any calendar month, we may refuse to pay each transaction in excess of the limitations. If you exceed these limits on more than an occasional basis, we reserve the right to close your Account.

BUT,

We are currently not enforcing the monthly transaction limit on savings and money market accounts. Therefore, exceeding these limitations on more than an occasional basis will not result in the closure of your account.

Overdraft Protection – Discover offers free overdraft transfers from a savings or money market account to a checking account to cover transactions that cause the checking account to go negative. This service makes it easier to keep a higher balance in a savings account (rather than in a checking account) so it can earn more interest. There’s one difference between this service and the one offered by Ally: Discover does not cover debit card purchases. According to Discover’s Overdraft Protection Service Agreement Addendum, they deny debit card purchases if the checking balance isn’t large enough.

5. TRANSFER REQUIREMENTS

b. The Overdraft Protection service does not cover ATM withdrawals, or, POS debit transaction. POS debit transactions and ATM withdrawals will not be completed if sufficient funds are not available.

Discover Bank ACH Transfer Features

ACH bank-to-bank funds transfer service can be a deal maker or breaker for opening an account at an internet bank. Discover Bank does allow large ACH transfers to be initiated from its online account center. According to the Account Center Banking agreement,

• Incoming limit is $250,000 per 30-day rolling period for each Account Center registered owner*.
• *Cashback Debit accounts opened on or after March 20, 2022 are subject to a $10,000 incoming limit per 30-day rolling period for each Account Center registered owner.
• Outgoing limit is $250,000 per 30-day rolling period for each Account Center registered owner.
• The limits above are subject to a combined incoming/outgoing limit of $300,000 per 30-day rolling period for each Account Center registered owner.

Availability

Headquartered in Greenwood, Delaware, Discover Bank is an internet bank with no brick-and-mortar branches. To qualify to open an account of any kind with Discover Bank,

Each Account Owner must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. Resident Aliens or other U.S.
person at least 18 years old and have a valid taxpayer ID and physical U.S. address.

Applying for either the $150 or $450 Online Savings account bonus can be done online, by phone, or by using the Discovery App. No matter how you apply for the bonus, you must use the offer code, BONUS1022E . The fine print on the landing page concerning who is eligible for an Online Savings bonus reads as follows,

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. Eligibility is based on primary account owner.

Bank Overview

Discover Bank has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 4.61% (excellent) based on June 30, 2022 data. In the past year, Discover Bank has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $5.66 billion, an excellent annual growth rate of 9.03%. Please refer to our financial overview of Discover Bank (FDIC Certificate # 5649) for more details.

Discover Bank traces its roots back to Delaware’s Greenwood Trust Company, which was established in 1911. In 1985, Discover Financial Services purchased Greenwood Trust Company, with the Discover Bank rebrand occurring in 2000. Discover Bank is currently the 34^th largest bank in the country, with assets in excess of $113 billion, more than 6.4 million customer accounts, and 415,000 ATMs spread across the United States.

Bottom Line

With no direct deposit requirement, both Discover bonuses are very good deals even as rates continue to climb. There are no liquid accounts or CDs that currently return $150 or $450 in 30 days.

• Earning $150 in an online savings account (current top rate of 3.11% APY) would require about $4.8k on deposit for a year.
• Earning $450 in an online savings account (current top rate of 3.11% APY) would require about $14.5k on deposit for a year.

The above information and rates are accurate as of 10/25/2022.

Don’t qualify for the Discover bonus? Check our list of the best savings and checking account bonus offers for a bonus that’s right for you.