Keep Discover card, or get rid of it?

[raccoon]

They sent me a new card, call 800-so and so to activate it, then put me on hold to talk to a service rep...they'll just try to sell me some identity protection...

So why not just let it go? I have another Visa and another Master Card.

[HopeHoops]

1. Fuck Discover. The only other card I refuse to ever own is Capital One.

The only reason you might want to hang on to it is for credit ratings. If you drop a card, your "total available" drops and if you have a balance anywhere else that makes the percentage of balance to available get much larger. The open card is a buffer.

The BEST reason to drop it is if they hit you with that "maintenance fee" thing (Discover's alternative to a yearly membership fee). If you don't use the card for a few months and have no balance, they'll start giving you one to "maintain" the card. Not everyone has it, but check the damn agreement before you activate the thing.

[kimmerspixelated]

4. HopeHoops isn't very funny about this!

I'd do what he says!

[Kali]

2. dropping cards CAN affect your credit rating

so check your agreement carefully and if you have no fees it might be good to just keep it, otherwise - yeah they aren't good at a lot of places so they aren't very handy in emergencies

[gmoney]

3. +1 on your credit score. Discover isn't bad...

I find very few places that don't take Discover.

They do a 5% cashback thing now, which for particular types of purchases you get 5% back, rather than the usual 1%. So, just sign up for those every month, and if you end up purchasing stuff in the current category, use the Discover, then pay it off real quick. You might need to put a post-it on the card so you remember what categories are current, as I tend to forget. But it's usually basic stuff, like gas or groceries or clothing, sometimes more specialized like bookstores, amusement parks, hotels. (October-December it's good for "restaurants and fashion"). I think the limit is $150 a month in cash back, but 5% is nothing to sneeze at when times are tough.

Again, closing the account could hurt your credit score, too. Available credit is a big plus. So, use it judiciously to get the cash back, pay it off right away, and you should be money ahead, with cash advance potential for a really rainy day.

[trof]

5. I pay EVERYTHING I can with Discover.

Cash back, baby!
That comes to around $400 bucks a year for us.
Christmas shopping money.
Caveat: pay the entire bill every month.

[quakerboy]

7. +1 on the cash back

Discover, with the rolling category of 5% has consistently done better than any other card for me. Plus the option of additional value for buying gift cards($25 in cash back gets you a $30 card delivered) is an extra little bonus if there is anything you would normally buy on their list.

As with any cash back scheme, there is no point in using it if you will not be paying the balance in full each and every month. If you pay interest, you effectively cancel the bonus, or even lose ground.

Plus their customer service has always been excellent, rapidly responsive, in the dealings I have had with them. Unlike various Visa or Mastercards who just take the charges and send me a bill, Discover has successfully noticed and called me to check immediately each and every time (3 times now since 2001) that someone absconded with and misused my card information, and rapidly fixed the situation.

Although I do find that about 1/4 of places do not take Discover. Its almost always the mom&pop type places, although a very few bigger names don't take them. And as the financial situation of the country continues to worsen, I expect that will increase, as more places decide its not worth the fees to have that capability. Still way better than Amex's usability , which is pretty much useless outside of the major chains. I cannot recall whether it was the Amex or the discover which I was unable to use at a single place up in Canada.

The credit portion is only important if you are needing credit. Not everyone does. But if that available credit is important, and you are worried about maintanance fee's, which someone else mentioned, the simplest thing to do is use it quarterly to buy something. Or pick a monthly bill to pay with it, and then set up the auto pay from your bank account to send them a check each month in the proper amount. No fee's, problem solved.

The trend I noticed is that Visa tends to be free, but if you dont use an account for a year, they may cancel the account. Master card has a fee if you dont use your card long enough. Discover, I dont know, as I use mine weekly. I keep track of the last time I used the cards that I rarely use, and make sure to make a purchase every 6 months or so.

[blue neen]

6. One of the things that I like about Discover is that they have good customer service.

That's not always common these days.