Discover credit cards will work with Apple Pay starting on September 16th, 2015. But the big news is that per this press release, those who pay with their Discover card using Apple Pay from 9/16 to 12/31/15 will automatically earn an extra 10% Cashback Bonus on up to $10,000 of in-store purchases. (Discover it Miles, Miles and Escape cardmembers will earn an extra 10 miles per dollar on up to $10,000 of in-store purchases.)
“We are excited for Discover cardmembers to have the ability to use Apple Pay. Rewards have always been important to our cardmembers, and we want to make sure they receive a generous offer for shopping with Discover and Apple Pay,” said Heather Roche, vice president of rewards at Discover. “We want to encourage new and existing Discover cardmembers to add their Discover card to Apple Pay with a few simple clicks using our mobile app, take advantage of this 10% Cashback Bonus, and experience the ease and convenience of using Apple Pay.”
Works with Double Cashback promotion! 10% of $10,000 of purchases is $1,000. But it gets even better for those already people signed up for Double Cashback in 2015, because Discover has confirmed multiple times via their official Twitter channel that it will double this as well! That makes it up to $2,000 in total extra bonuses, on top of the normal cash back of 5% in rotating categories and 1% on everything else (which will also be doubled at the end of the year). If you want to triple-confirm, click here and start a chat session direct with Discover.
Don’t have a Discover card yet? It’s not too late. The promo lasts until the end of 2015, so there is time to apply. New applicants of the Discover card through this referral link can get both a a $50 Cashback Bonus after you make your first purchase within 3 months and get the Double First Year Cash Back promotion. The $50 will then be doubled at the end of the year, so if you keep the card open it becomes effectively a $100 bonus. Click on the application link and then on the “See rates, rewards and other info” link and look for the following details in the fine print:
TERMS OF CASHBACK BONUS OFFER: Get a $50 Cashback Bonus after you make your first purchase within 3 months of being approved. Promotional award will be applied within 8 weeks. The promotional award is in addition to the Cashback Bonus earned on all purchases.
Double First Year Cash Back: After the first 12 consecutive billing periods that your new account is open, we will double all the cash back rewards you’ve earned and apply them to your account in the next billing cycle. You’ve earned rewards when they have posted to your account by the end of the 12th consecutive billing period. You will not receive Double Cash Back if your account is closed or no longer in the cash back reward program as of the award date. This promotional offer may not be offered in the future. This exclusive offer is available only to new cardmembers.
Additional information.
- Here are all the physical stores where Apple Pay is accepted. It’s too long to copy-and-paste here, but notable ones include Apple Stores (how about 20% off Apple products?), Babies R Us and Toys R US (stack with their own coupons), BJ’s Warehouse, Chevron (20% off gas!), Sports Authority, Staples, Walgreens, and Whole Foods.
- The quick and direct method on this would be to purchase gift cards in-store, as this will allow you to time-shift your purchases if you didn’t plan on spending $10,000 at those merchants otherwise.
- According to the official Discover Twitter account, the 10% bonus will post within two statement cycles.
- Apple Pay works in physical stores with iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch, as well as iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus when they come out. You will need to upgrade to iOS 9 (will be released 9/16) and add your Discover card to the Wallet app.
- This promotion is so potentially valuable, people without iPhones are trying to figure out if it is worth to buy one just to get in on this promotion. You could also use it as an excuse to upgrade your older iPhone. 🙂 I have read reports that Apple Pay does not require cellular service to work if you have WiFi available, but I haven’t yet done the research myself.
This should be quite a profitable promo, will update after I make my first few purchases. I’ve never used Apple Pay before, I should probably make a practice purchase so I don’t mess things up. 😉
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So to get this straight, there would be no issue with getting the cash back through the purchase of gift cards at say, Meijer? Just want to make sure before buying $10k in Visa gift cards!
I have seen nothing that would prevent people from buying gift cards as part of their purchase. They want to encourage you to use Apple Pay, and this promo will work, at least for me. I’ve never used it before, and now I will, with a Discover card! (Please comment if you have alternative info.) I’m not even sure that Discover can know what you are buying from the store. They should only be passed the dollar amount, not whether I am buying Skippy or GIF peanut butter.
I think I am your best reader since I give you all the referrals! This offer is too good to pass, someone on slickdeals mentioned buying a $10,000 prepaid visa at staples. I might just go in for that. Although it will probably have to be $10 1k cards or something.
Its actually 22% back since you also get your 1% back like normal.
Don’t they charge a fee to buy prepaid visa cards?
Yes, they do. BUT, the fee is usually somewhere between 1%-3% (depending on which card you buy).
I would definitely buy $10K in prepaid cards, pay $100-300 in fees and then get $2200 in cash back. Sure it may be a bit of a hassle to liquidate the $10K in prepaid cards, but it’s worth quite a bit of hassle to net $2K in cash back.
So I am betting come black friday there will be some deals. Another way is to buy a bunch of iPhones and try reselling them.
Thanks for using my link, I appreciate it! Prepaid card might a good idea depending on the fees. You might see at lot of $1k and $500 cards out-of-stock on 9/16 and 9/17…
Yes the 10% (20% if doubled) is on top of existing promos. So another 1% (2% if doubled) on regular stuff and 5% (10% if doubled) on the rotating categories.
10K at Staples? You must enjoy subsidizing their bottom line. I’d hit all grocery/pharmacy stores that sell Visa Gift Cards at $500 (plus fees) before I’d waste all those fees at Staples to get a measly $200 VGC.
I figure I want to use my 6% card at Groceries but I guess I could buy the cards there.
Hmmmm hope it comes to the new google pay app….
It just might, I wonder what the cheapest Android phone with NFC chip is these days…
How does am existing cardholder get the double cashback promo?
At this point, you can’t on your existing card. Discover offered that option earlier in the year, but right now they aren’t giving that option.
Your significant other can get a new card. OR, it looks like Discover will let you get a second card if you’ve had your other one for 12 months. OR, if you have the IT card, you could try applying for the Miles card (or vice versa)
Would I need to apply for a NEW Discover card to get the double cash back, or does anyone know if merely converting an existing Discover card to a different type of Discover card (e.g. It Miles to It) would qualify?
Decided not to be lazy and get an answer from Discover myself. Converting an existing card does not qualify you for double cash back. It has to be a new card. Confirmed with two different reps.
Thanks for the data points. My discussions had a similar result; everything is now for new cardholders. However, Discover has recently relaxed their previous restriction of one Discover card per person. So you could apply for a new, additional Discover card if you wished.
There was a window a few months back when they let existing users in on the Double promotion (I posted about it), but I believe that window has closed based on reader feedback and the promo is now open only to new cardholders. So your options would be (1) ask them directly again nicely or (2) apply for a new Discover card.
Just FYI Datapoint. I had an old Discover card I hadn’t used. I had planned on applying for a Discover IT card to get in on this, but hadn’t gotten around to it. Last night, Discover just sent me a new card saying my old Discover is now the Discover IT card and is giving me double cash back and 0% interest for 12 months on purchases starting 10/16/15. I didn’t do anything to initiate this. So that was a nice surprise. Now I can time shift the $10,000 with GCs and still not have to pay it off until I use them.
I just applied and got the card. So do any of you think I could figure out a way to pay for my new iPhone using Apple Pay (Discover) using my new iPhone? 😛 If not, I’ll just upgrade at Verizon Store.
Apple Store takes apple pay, but I don’t think that it will be possible to pay for the phone with the phone 🙂
You could upgrade the phone at the Verizon store, and as long as you’re a post-paid customer you can buy $500 gift cards at Walgreens or wherever to pay your Verizon bill when it comes. Small fee for the cards, but not hard to do.
Check out the ATT Access More Card from CITIbank. They have a opening promo for thatcard that includes a iPhone for free (well you have to jump through a few hoops). If you’re in the market for an iPhone and this promo, it should fit in nicely!
You could buy Apple Store gift cards (not iTunes) at a participating store that sells them. I found this link at Walgreens.com, the title is off but the picture and description says it is for Apple retail store, so you’d think they would be available at the physical stores.
http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/apple-itunes-%24100-gift-card/ID=prod6269297-product
Alternative is to buy a prepaid Visa/Mastercard/American Express product and pay whatever fees come with it.
Just talk with an apple store representative and explain the situation. They may actually allow you to set up your card on a new phone, pay for another, and return the first phone. Apple is pretty lenient with their return policy. I once was offered by an apple representative to buy and return an external DVD drive, so I could install software on my new mac (which doesn’t have a optical drive anymore). So, how knows.
Unless I’m missing something, it appears that if I used apple pay at home Depot type retailer that already has 5% cash back till September 30; with double cash back bonus I can make it to 30% cash back on those stores.
Does that sound right?
Yes, that correct. But only if the 5% store also accepts Apple Pay. I don’t see any Home Improvement stores that also take Apple Pay.
BUT, Macy’s is on both lists right now, and JcPenney is coming soon to Apple Pay. And department stores get 5% for both Q3 and Q4.
So assuming JcP has Apple Pay rolled out in the next week, you could spend $1500 at those stores in September, and $1500 in Oct-Dec and get 30% cash back (on $3K, that’s $900 back!!). Then spend another 7K on any other Apple Pay location (22% Cash Back) = $1540.
So you could net a total of $2440 in cashback, just by spending $10K through Apple Pay.
Is there anything worth getting for $3000 at Macy’s? Do they have Visa cards?
i dont see any retailers on the apple pay list that would qualify for the 5%. Macy’s? Thats about it…
Home Depot has stated they may start taking Apple Pay “sometime after they upgrade their POS machines”, but since Home Improvement is only a 5% category until the end of September, I think the chances are slim for it to work with this promo.
Does anyone have any thoughts on how to most efficiently spend this $10,000?
I’m going to attempt to find stores that both accept Apple Pay and are eligible for 5% cash back. I’ll get $1,500 (max amount you get 5% back on per quarter) of gift cards before August 30 and another $1,500 between 10/1 and 12/31 (thus, 30% off $3,000 of spend). The other $7,000 I’m not sure you can beat 22% off but I’ll be checking back here to see if anyone has any good ideas.
Aug 20 = Sept 30?
Yes Sept 30 (August was a typo). I’m going to scout around and see if Lowes (for example) takes Apple Pay even though they’re not listed on the Apple Pay website. If not it looks like Macy’s is the only real option before Sept 30. Perhaps JCP and Kohls will be added for the 4th quarter of 2015 (per the Apple Pay website).
Are you sure the 10% is in addition to the 5%? I sorta doubt it, but I’d love to be proven wrong!
Will this be applicable to multiple cards? My wife has 2 Discover Cards and I have 2 Discover cards. I’ve never used Apple Pay, can more than 1 Discover card be loaded into Apple Pay.
Yes, I believe the promotion is per card. You can definitely load multiple cards onto Apple Pay.
I read the press release. Just want to be sure. Are we certain this isn’t just a 10% of your cash back bonus (and not an extra 10% in cash back)?
I have an account with BoA that gives me a 75% bonus on my cash back earned through their credit card. So I spend $3,000 and which earns $30 in rewards (1%) but I actually get $52.50 in cash back ($30*1.75). Could this 10% be similar to that?
Hi,
Thanks for the referral link. Used and applied for the card.
I have a iphone5 and want to upgrade to 6s. (Unfortunately iphone5 will not work with Apple Pay..otherwise I could have got $150 cashback when I buy 6s for $750).
Are you sure it is 10% cashback bonus or just an extra 10% on the cashback bonus (e. g., instead of 1% cashback bonus, 1.1% cashbackbonus?
Drat, I have the IT miles card so doubling up to earn 3% on everything.
Not sure I can get in on this as they made me cancel my Miles card to get the IT.
Also, I’m an android guy…
You are eligible for this promo if you have Discover It Miles and are on the Double It promotion (if you can get access to Apple Pay). Discover it Miles, Miles and Escape cardmembers will earn an extra 10 miles per dollar on up to $10,000 of in-store purchases with Apple Pay.
Too bad they spell out that it is only good for in-store purchases with ApplePay. It would be much better if it supported in-app purchases with ApplePay. Then I could get 20% off my rent by paying with RadPad (minus their 2.5% fee would still leave me saving 17.5% on my rent). Oh well, I can dream. 🙂
The promotion now says it excludes gift cards. How does Discover know if I bought a gift card?
i would avoid buying flat amounts like exactly 100. But that’s a good question I am gong to try a gift card and sonething else to see what happens
Where are you seeing the exclusion? I’ve reviewed the press release, offer, and interest/fees details, and I don’t see it.
They revised the terms after the press release. The current terms are below. It also says it excludes gift cards in my iphone wallet.
From Discover:
Cashback Bonus
Earn an extra 10% Cashback Bonus on up to $10,000 of in-store purchases when you use your Discover card with Apple Pay now through 12/31/15. Excludes gift card purchases. No sign up needed.
Rewards earned are in addition to your standard rewards and are added to your Cashback Bonus account within 2 billing periods. See Cashback Bonus Program Terms and Conditions for more information.
FYI, for any others that may not have noticed/fully understood:
This offer (and Discover cards in general it seems) REQUIRE iOS 9. So, you won’t get this on iOS 8.4 or below.
(maybe minor for most folks, but I jailbreak, so I can’t update to iOS 9 yet)
-does anyone have a link to any discover webpage or a screen shot that actually shows “10%” please?
-when is the 10% cash back supposed to post? each statement or in january, 2016?
thanks!