Discover Increases New Online Savings Account Bonus

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Deal Summary: $150 or $450 bonus when opening a new Online Savings account now through November 8, 2022.

Availability: Nationwide (internet bank), new customers only

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.

APYMINMAXINSTITUTIONPRODUCTDETAILS
4.35%--DiscoverOnline Savings Account
Rates as of December 1, 2023.

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 34th 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.

Related Pages: savings accounts, nationwide deals, bank bonuses, Internet banks

Comments
hampshire
  |     |   Comment #1
New customers only........current account holders need not apply
RZ
  |     |   Comment #2
I’m sure they are appreciative of my $5 balance and continued loyalty
RichardW
  |     |   Comment #4
RZ, like you I am also a current Discover Bank account holder. It looks like we are missing out on a good deal. This expression provides an approximate value of the rate during the holding period: (((365/d) x 1.286%) + 2.35%) where d is the duration of the holding period in days. The 2.35% Discover Online Savings account is assumed to be the account holding the funds. It is also assumed that the amount deposited for the offer is $35,000, and that it is all deposited at one time. For a $35,000 deposit the bonus would be $450 and (450/35,000) = 1.286%. Note that the minimum holding period is 30 days. Utilizing a holding period of 30 days the expression yields 17.996% or about 18%. Obviously if you hold it longer than the required 30-day period the rate decreases. For example, if the holding period is 365 days the yield drops to 3.636%. All of these rates neglect taxes and assume the Discover Online Savings account doesn’t change its rate during the holding period.
mav12
  |     |   Comment #32
Thank you, i am trying to follow your math, but where do you get: "expression yields 17.996% or about 18%"?
How do you calculate this?
Cal_Gal
  |     |   Comment #3
Ok, single owner of account says it's $250k max in and out in a 30-day rolling period, but maximum in or out is a combined $300k? So, theoretically I could not put in a matured $250k CD and then take $240k out to open another CD b'cause that would be a total of $500k?
What am I missing?
TRP
  |     |   Comment #5
I wasn't sure if I was eligible for this promotion as I checked my records and I had a Discover Money Market Account (when Discover was part of Greenwood Trust Company) from 1998-2000. I gave them a call and they checked my SSN in the current Discover Bank system and it shows that I have never had a savings account with them so I am good to go.

IMHO this is a very good promotion which currently pays 2.35% APY (subject to change of course) plus the $450 bonus for a $35,000 deposit. In addition, it says that you will have your bonus paid in about 30 days after you make your qualifying deposit(s). Count me in!
sams1985
  |     |   Comment #19
They paid it out 1 day after the deposit!
payitforward
  |     |   Comment #6
Whenever the ACH is outlined on DA, it would be helpful to know if the ACH transfer limits also apply to ACH transfers initiated from an external FI.
Tracey
  |     |   Comment #7
I can't believe how easy it was to open this account. No driver's license number or picture, etc.
fred_b
  |     |   Comment #8
Easy to apply but their ACH transfer failed for reasons I don't understand. A subsequent attempt to schedule the ACH via Discover online banking also failed.
essjaye
  |     |   Comment #9
After four hours on the phone, the application process continually failing, my ACH transfers also failed (I tried three banks.). Got a complete run around and mea culpa from numerous reps as they escalated the problem. Anyone else have this problem besides Fred and me?
nic21
  |     |   Comment #10
How did you do ACH transfers? Did you do it during the application process or did you link the external accounts, then did the transfers?
essjaye
  |     |   Comment #11
I linked the external accounts during the application process. The application then failed. I re-did it with a rep on the phone. Unsuccessfully. They then referred me to a "specialist" who tried to walk me through. Unsuccessfully. They told me to do a wire or mail a check instead. I suggested they pay for the wire. It's been a maddening experience; one I've never experienced with any other bank.
nic21
  |     |   Comment #12
You said the application failed, does that mean you could not open the account?
If you can open the account without funding, I wonder if you can log into your account and link the external banks to see if you can link.
essjaye
  |     |   Comment #13
I did open the account, but they won't allow me to fund it.
nic21
  |     |   Comment #14
I can see a possible workaround. You can link Discover bank from your external bank and push money to Discover bank to fund it. It will take a few days before you can fund it since the external will probably do trial deposit first.
TRP
  |     |   Comment #15
Just for some data points, I opened my new Discover Savings Account yesterday and was able to establish immediate ACH links with no trial deposits/credits (from the Discover Bank end) to my accounts at Ally Bank and Alliant Credit Union. I then went to both Ally Bank and Alliant Credit Union and I was able to establish immediate ACH links with no trial deposits/credits to my new Discover Savings Account. I initiated an ACH push transfer from Alliant Credit Union to Discover Bank yesterday (before Alliant's 12 PM Central Time cutoff) and the money was in my new Discover Savings Account this morning. YMMV
nic21
  |     |   Comment #16
Did you have to enter username and password of Ally/Alliant so you could link with no trial deposits from Discover bank? I think most banks let us do link without trial deposits but ask us to enter username and password of the external bank.
TRP
  |     |   Comment #17
nic21,
Yes, that is how I did the immediate ACH links at both ends.
Tracey
  |     |   Comment #21
I entered the funding information during the application process late last week. The account was opened, but I wasn't sure if the funding would work, so I linked an external account. I received an email today that my (application) funding was being processed and the money would be in my account tomorrow.
sams1985
  |     |   Comment #18
Wow, discover bank is not messing around. I opened the Account on 10-25-2022. Sent $35k. Cleared on 10-27-2022. Bonus was paid out on 10-28-2022.
akapla01
  |     |   Comment #20
Is there a requirement to keep any of the money in the account after the bonus posts?
SouthernGirl
  |     |   Comment #31
No 30-day holding time requirement. See my comment #22.
mcw1
  |     |   Comment #25
Funded 11/2. Bonus paid 11/3. Truly not messing around.
SouthernGirl
  |     |   Comment #22
Ken, according to CSR today with Discover Bank, there is not a 30-day holding time requirement.
fred_b
  |     |   Comment #23
Despite my ACH problems funding this account, the experience has been good. I funded the account on 10/28 and got my bonus on 10/30. Wow!

I didn't check but they probably did a hard pull on Experian. Did anyone check their credit report or ChexSystems?
TRP
  |     |   Comment #26
fred_b,

I opened up my new Discover Savings Account on 10/26 and I don't believe they do any hard pulls for this account. I base this on the fact that all 3 of my credit bureau reports are locked and I was still able to open my account. Also, I checked my ChexSystems report and they did not pull a report from there either. (FYI my account openings at Merchants Bank of Indiana for their Money Market Checking and at American Express Bank for their Rewards Checking both showed up on ChexSystems.)
SouthernGirl
  |     |   Comment #24
ATTENTION: ALL NEW CUSTOMERS open online savings account by Tuesday, November 8, 2022 to receive $450 bonus. On 10/31/22, opened account and funded $35K on the application screen with bonus code of BONUS1022E. On 11/01/22, pending ACH deposit posted. On 11/02/22, $450 bonus posted. On 11/03/22, ACH deposit cleared. On 11/04/22, current available is $35,450. The external link is already set up under the transfer section on Discover Bank. Current interest rate 2.75%.
sams1985
  |     |   Comment #27
Has anyone experienced issues opening an account online? worked for me but wife keeps getting the error: "We're currently experiencing technical difficulties. We regret any inconvenience and hope to have everything back up and running soon."
MoneyManager
  |     |   Comment #29
My mother opened a Discover Savings account. She said that she received two trial deposits in her external bank. Does she need to enter these accounts into a verification screen on the Discover transfer page? If so, where exactly is that located? Thank you!
sharon907
  |     |   Comment #30
When I tried, Discover Bank has a $10,000 limit for the first 30 days the account is open. Plus, even that did not work - would not allow any transfer to be initiated.

So I linked from another bank to Discover, and pushed the money in that way. Worked great. Good luck.
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Deal Summary: $150 or $200 bonus when opening a new Online Savings account now through September 15, 2022.

Availability: Nationwide (internet bank)

Discover’s long-running $150/$200 Online Savings bonus continues to be available. The current promotion runs through September 15, 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 September 15, 2022.
  • Use offer code BDG622 when applying.
  • $150 bonus – fund with at...
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