Discover Bank Review: Pros, Cons, And Alternatives

Discover® Bank is usually associated with its credit card. But for those that dig a bit deeper, there's a great bank to use here. 

Discover offers a wide range of banking products - including checking, savings, CDs, and more.

In fact, most of the time, Discover Bank is on our list of the best high yield savings accounts and our list of the best money market accounts. They also have a very compelling checking account and great CDs.

Here's what you need to know in our Discover Bank review.

Who Is Discover Bank?

Discover Bank is part of the same company that offers the Discover credit card. All of the Discover financial products can be accessed through the primary Discover.com domain name, of which Discover Bank is a part of.

What Do They Offer?

For those looking to do all of their banking in one place, Discover Bank comes pretty close. While they don’t offer mortgages or loans, they do offer a wide range of deposit accounts with high yields and rewards.

Checking

Discover offers their Discover® Cashback Debit Checking, which consistently makes our list of the best free checking accounts. Earn 1% cash back on up to $3,000 in debit card purchases each month (see website for details). There's no monthly maintenance fee and you can open an account without depositing anything.

Discover Bank has over 60,000+ in-network ATMs. If you prefer going into a bank branch, you’ll be out of luck as the only branch is located in Delaware.

Discover Bank Checking is about as close to fee-free as you can get. It doesn't charge a fee for using its Overdraft Protection Service. It also never charges a fee for out-of-network ATM usage, although the third-party ATM provider may charge a fee. A $30 fee for sending an outgoing wire is about the only fee that you could run into with this account.

While this checking account doesn’t pay interest, the 1% cash back makes up for it. When you spend $3,000 in a month through debit spending, you’ll earn $30, which means $360 over a year.

How Does Discover Checking Compare?

Discover has one of the best cashback checking products that we've seen. However, if you spend more than $3,000 per month in debit card purchases, another account may be a better fit. 

See how they compare to other top free checking accounts below (or see our full list of free checking here):

Savings

There is a top APY savings account with no deposit to open. Interest is compounded daily. There is no minimum balance required or a monthly maintenance fee.

They currently offer a top yielding 4.25% APY on their savings account.

While there are some fees (like wire transfer), this account is very friendly from a fee standpoint.

Check out their online savings account here >>

How Does Discover® Online Savings Compare?

Discover is right in the middle of the pack when it comes to the interest rates that it's currently offering. However, if you already have an existing Discover checking account and/or credit card, keeping your savings with them as well could allow you to manage all your financial accounts in one place.

See how the compare to other top banks here for savings:

Money Market

The Discover® Money Market Account is similar to a checking account, but you can earn interest if you have a high balance. A $100,000 balance will earn you a higher APY than the regular account.

Right now, you can earn the following:

• Over $100,000: 4.05% APY
• Under $100,000: 4.00% APY

For both checking and money market accounts, funds can be transferred to and from external accounts fee free.

The APY on the checking and money market accounts can change at any time. That isn’t the case with a CD.

Check out the Discover Money Market Account here >>

CDs

Now we’ve reached the highest-yielding account where Discover is exceptionally competitive - they have top-yielding CDs. You’ll need a $2,500 minimum opening balance, however.

Outgoing wire transfers are $30. There are penalties for early withdrawals. Depending on when you withdraw funds, the penalty is based on simple interest for a certain number of months. For example, less than 1 year is 3 months of simple interest, and 5 years to less than 7 years is 18 months of simple interest.

Check out Discover® CDs here >>

IRA CDs

These CDs are for retirement accounts. They have the same maturities and yields as regular CDs. Withdrawals are based on the type of retirement account — Roth or traditional IRA. Contributions can be withdrawn from a Roth anytime without penalty. For a traditional IRA, you must wait until age 59.5.

You can roll over funds from another retirement account into an IRA CD or transfer funds from another financial institution.

Discover Bank Promotions

Discover Bank is not currently offering any new customer promotions.

Are There Any Fees?

Yes — as discussed above for each account type. However, Discover is really making a strong effort to keep their accounts as fee friendly as possible. Their recent fee reduction changes, including no overdraft protection fees and no out-of-network ATM fees, are a huge win for consumers!

How Do I Open an Account?

You can create your account online here. You’ll need a Social Security number and address. You can also call the 800 phone number listed on the website to open an account.

If you're opening a specialty account, like a trust account, there is an easy online portal to securely upload the required documents.

Is My Money Safe?

Yes — Discover Bank is a member of the FDIC. Depositor funds are insured up to $250,000. Discover also uses bank-grade encryption.

How Do I Contact Discover?

Discover's online banking customer service is available 24/7 by phone at 1-800-290-9885. You can also call Discover's general customer support phone number, 1-800-DISCOVER (1-800-347-2683), or chat with an agent live online.

Discover Bank has a mobile app, as well. You can deposit checks, find an ATM, and use Quick View, which lets you see your balances without logging into the app. Apple and Android versions of the app are available.

They don't have any physical branches. However, they do have a large network of fee-free ATMs to access your account.

Is It Worth It?

Yes — if you're looking for a bank that offers checking and high-yield savings products, Discover Bank has them.

While not a full-service bank, Discover Bank is under the Discover umbrella, which does offer many different loan products. Having an account with Discover Bank means you’ll already be in their system should you want a loan product or credit card later on.

Discover Bank doesn’t have bank branches, except in Delaware. If you need a bank branch, you’ll want to look elsewhere. But given how convenient modern banking is, that's unlikely to be a deal-breaker for the average customer.

Discover Bank FAQs

Here are a few of the most common questions that people ask about Discover Bank:

Is there really no minimum deposit with Discover Bank Checking?

Yes, you can open a Discover Bank checking account without making any deposit. However, a deposit will need to be made within 45 days of opening the account or else it will be automatically closed.

Can you deposit cash into your Discover Bank account?

No, although it does offer an extensive ATM network for cash withdrawals, Discover Bank does not accept cash deposits at this time.

Will you still earn a Cashback Bonus on your Discover Debit Card if you use a digital wallet?

Yes, you'll continue to earn cashback when you use digital wallets like Google Pay and Apple Pay. However, payments made with peer-to-peer payment apps like Apple Pay Cash, Venmo, and PayPal may not be eligible for Discover's Cashback Bonus.

Is Discover Bank offering any bonuses to new customers?

No, Discover Bank currently does not have any bonus offers on their accounts.

Discover Bank Features