Discover it Student Cash Back
No annual fee · 1x on everything else · no foreign transaction fees
Earn rates · how we got this
| Category | Rate | Cap |
|---|---|---|
| Rotating quarterly categories (rotating) | 5x | on the first $1,500/quarter |
| Everything else | 1x | uncapped |
Non-cash perks
- $0 fraud liability on unauthorized purchases
- Free Social Security number dark-web alerts via CreditWise
- Freeze/unfreeze account instantly via app or site
- Free FICO Score 8 via CreditWise
- 24/7 human customer service (some specialized lines excluded)
- No credit score required to apply (issuer may use one if available)
Does the fee earn out? · how we got this
No annual fee, so every point earned is pure upside. The question is only whether its rates beat the other cards already in your wallet — which depends on your spending, not the card.
Check the current offer on the issuer's site → Where a card link will appear once available — no link on this page pays us today.
Who this card is not for
Every point below is a term the issuer prints, read off this card's own row in our database — not an opinion about the card. One thing on this card rules out a kind of spender:
- Anyone who won't track a quarterly calendar. Its 5x rate applies to categories that change every quarter, on the first $1,500 of spending per quarter, and the issuer requires you to activate each quarter before you spend. In a quarter whose categories miss your spending — or that you forget to activate — those charges earn its base 1x.
More from Discover
Which card should this spending actually be on? The demo re-scores a year of realistic spending against every card in a wallet — free, no signup. See it on sample data →
Verified 2026-09-08 against issuer terms · sources: www.discover.com · www.discover.com · thepointsguy.com. Spot an error? Tell us.