4.2/5
Discover it Balance Transfer Credit Card
- Best for: Moving a balance from another bank’s card, then earning in 5% categories
- What Sets It Apart: Quarterly 5% categories and a dollar-for-dollar match of year one’s cash back, rewards few balance transfer cards pay
- Welcome Offer: All the cash back you earn in your first year, matched at the end of it (Cashback Match)
- Rewards: 5% on up to $1,500 a quarter in categories you activate, at U.S. merchants; 1% on everything else
- Features: Transfers from 10 days after opening; none from other Capital One cards, Discover’s included; $0 fraud liability
- Annual Fee: $0
- Intro APR: 0% for 18 months on balance transfers from account opening; 0% for 6 months on purchases
- APR: 17.74% to 26.74% variable
- Cost: 3% transfer fee in the intro period; no foreign transaction fee; no late fee the first time, then up to $41; no penalty APR
- Pros: 0% for 18 months on transfers for a 3% fee; no penalty APR; more than a flat 2% card earns on up to $6,000 of category spending a year
- Cons: Purchases charge interest after the purchase intro until the transfer is paid off; no transfers from Capital One cards; 1% outside the categories
Capital One, which bought Discover in May 2025, issues this cash back card, and its 0% period on transfers starts the day the account opens, not the day you transfer. Transfers can start 10 days after opening, so a $5,000 balance moved then costs a $150 fee, and 17 monthly payments of $303 clear the $5,150 before the 0% ends.
Key Features
- No annual fee, and 0% for 18 months on balance transfers, then a variable interest rate of 17.74% to 26.74%
- A 3% fee on transfers during the intro period, and 5% on a promotional transfer offer after it
- 0% for 6 months on purchases
- 5% back on up to $1,500 of purchases a quarter in categories you activate, and 1% on everything else
- A Cashback Match that doubles all the cash back you earn in your first year
Pros
- No penalty interest rate, and no late fee the first time you pay late
- Purchases cost no interest during their 0% period and, once matched, earn 10% in the categories and 2% elsewhere
- Once the transfer is paid off, the categories pay more than a flat 2% card on up to $6,000 of purchases a year
Cons
- Once purchases lose their 0% rate, each new one charges interest from the day you buy it until you’ve paid off the whole balance, transfer included
- No transfers from another Capital One card, Discover’s included
- Categories need activating every quarter, and after year one everything else earns 1%, half what a flat 2% card pays
After the first year, it beats a flat 2% card only for those who put at least 25% of their card spending in the 5% categories, which stop at $1,500 a quarter. Readers with nothing to transfer get the same rewards plus a welcome bonus on the Discover it Cash Back, and those under 25% earn more on the Citi Double Cash, a flat 2% card with its own 0% transfer offer.
Learn more about the Discover it Balance Transfer Credit Card or see how it compares to the best balance transfer credit cards.
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