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Each quarter, Discover it® Cash Back and Discover® More® Card cardmembers can earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 of purchases in select categories. Since the new quarter has kicked off, you can now spend within Discover's 5% cash back bonus categories.
By maximizing your Discover quarterly bonus, you'd earn $300 cash back on $6,000 in purchases over the calendar year. That's a solid return. Here's a look at the current quarter's offerings and how to ensure you're earning 5% back.
Page Contents
Discover 5% Cash Back Overview
- You need to activate your 5% cash-back earnings before making purchases.
- Earn 5% back on up to $1,500 of purchases in select categories each quarter. That's a max of $75 cash back per quarter.
- Earn 1% on all spending after that.
- Allow up to two billing periods for the rewards to post to your account.
- Payments made using digital wallets and certain third-party payment accounts may also be ineligible if “the technology does not provide sufficient transaction details or a qualifying MCC.”
Related: Does Your Discover Cash Back Bonus Expire?
Discover cash back categories for Q3 2025
- Activation opened on June 1, 2025.
- Q3 runs from July 1 through September 30, 2025.
- This quarter's Discover cash back bonus categories are:
- Gas Stations
- EV Charging
- Public Transit
- Utilities
Here's a shortened version of how Discover defines each category:
- Gas Stations & EV Charging: Includes purchases at gas stations and public EV charging stations. However, stations tied to supermarkets, warehouse clubs, or some parking garages may not qualify.
- Public Transit: Covers local commuter buses, trains, and ferries. Does not include taxis, rideshares, long-distance trains, or other water transport.
- Utilities: Includes direct payments for home electricity, gas, water, internet, cable, and phone services made online or by phone. Payments through third parties (like landlords) or purchases made in-store or for extras like streaming services generally don’t qualify.
Caution: Discover Cash Back Activation Isn't Retroactive
Unlike Chase's 5% cash back bonus categories, Discover's bonus activation is not retroactive.
Chase requires cardholders to activate the rotating 5% cash back quarterly bonus on the Chase Freedom Flex℠ and Chase Freedom®. However, members can activate their bonus as late as the 14th day of the last month of the quarter (e.g., September 14 for Q3 2025). Doing so earns them 5% cash back from day one of the quarter.
However, this is not the case with Discover; you only start earning your 5% cash back from the day you activate. So that's something you should do now — if you haven't already.
Related: Credit Cards Featuring Rotating Bonus Categories
How To Figure Out if Your Purchase Will Be Eligible for 5% Cash Back
To trigger the 5% cash back, you need to make a purchase at a merchant that qualifies. This will be based on the merchant's Merchant Category Code (MCC). If the MCC doesn't match the bonus category, your purchase will be ineligible.
This can be an issue because some larger stores that sell home improvement-related items may not reflect a home improvement MCC, making purchases ineligible. Likewise, some food vendors may not have an MCC to indicate that either, again making your purchases ineligible.
Finding the MCC for a nearby merchant typically requires some trial and error. You can make a purchase and then check your credit card statement to see how it earned.
AwardWallet has a tool that can help shortcut your research. The AwardWallet Merchant Category Code Lookup tool shows you how purchases code at any store you want based on anonymized AwardWallet user data.
Discover 5% Cash Back History
Curious about what might be offered next quarter? Us too. That's why we put together a full history of Discover 5% cash back categories since 2017. As you can see, Discover can be rather predictable about what categories it offers:
| Year | First Quarter (Jan–March) | Second Quarter (April–June) | Third Quarter (July–Sep) | Fourth Quarter (Oct–Dec) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | • Restaurants • Home improvement stores • Select streaming services | • Grocery stores • Wholesale clubs | • Gas stations & EV Charging • Public Transit • Utilities | • TBD |
| 2024 | • Restaurants • Drugstores | • Gas stations & EV charging stations • Home improvement stores • Public transit | • Walmart • Grocery stores | • Amazon.com • Target |
| 2023 | • Grocery stores • Drugstores • Select streaming services | • Restaurants • Wholesale clubs | • Gas stations • Digital wallets | • Amazon.com • Target |
| 2022 | • Grocery stores • Fitness club & gym memberships | • Gas stations • Target | • Restaurants • PayPal | • Amazon.com • Digital wallets |
| 2021 | • Grocery stores • Walgreens & CVS | • Gas stations • Wholesale clubs • Select streaming services | • Restaurants • PayPal | • Amazon.com • Walmart.com • Target.com |
| 2020 | • Grocery stores • Walgreens & CVS | • Gas stations • Uber & Lyft • Wholesale clubs | • Restaurants • PayPal | • Amazon.com • Walmart.com • Target.com |
| 2019 | • Grocery stores | • Gas stations • Uber & Lyft | • Restaurants • PayPal | • Amazon.com • Target • Walmart.com |
| 2018 | • Gas stations • Wholesale clubs | • Grocery stores | • Restaurants | • Amazon.com • Wholesale clubs |
| 2017 | • Gas stations • Ground transportation • Wholesale clubs | • Home improvement stores • Wholesale clubs | • Restaurants | • Amazon.com • Target |
Our Take
The 5% Discover cash-back bonus is the main reason for holding these cards. Failing to activate your bonus in a timely manner can negate the entire reason for holding these cards. You can miss out on some substantial earnings over the year.
Fans of cash back can get even more bonus categories by also signing up for the Freedom Flex. In addition to a rotating 5% bonus cash back category, the Freedom Flex also earns 5% on travel purchased through Chase and 3% on dining at restaurants and drugstores. You can take things up to another level by combining the cash back with the points earned from the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card to further boost the value of your cash-back earnings.
However, these cards aren't exclusive. Utilizing the Freedom Flex and Discover card duo would earn you 5% cash back on up to $3,000 in purchases each quarter! Read our Discover it Cash Back Card review to learn more.
- 5% cash back at different places each quarter like gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, Amazon.com, or wholesale clubs up to the quarterly maximum each time you activate.
- Unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases - automatically.
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