Discover it® Secured Review: A Standout Secured Credit Card

For building and rebuilding credit, the Discover it® Secured Credit Card has it all. There's no annual fee, it can graduate to an unsecured card, and it even offers valuable cash back bonuses. Read our full Discover it® Secured Credit Card review to see why we consider it an undisputed leader in its category.

This credit card is a good fit for: Cardholders with a thin or bad credit history who want to build credit while earning cash back rewards.

Top perks

Secured credit cards are often light on features, but the Discover it® Secured Credit Card is an exception.

No annual fee

Many credit cards for bad credit have annual fees that make improving credit more expensive than it needs to be. The Discover it® Secured Credit Card doesn't have an annual fee.

Up to 2% cash back

The Discover it® Secured Credit Card has a much better cash back program than most of its competitors. It earns a 2% Cashback Bonus® at gas stations and restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter. It earns 1% cash back on other purchases.

Already have good credit? Check out our list of the Best Cash Back Credit Cards.

Unlimited Cashback Match sign-up bonus

Another valuable feature of this card is Discover's Unlimited Cashback Match. Discover will match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year. This sign-up bonus is only available during the first year and for new cardholders, but it can be particularly lucrative if you earn a lot of cash back.

For example, if you earned $250 cash back during your first year as a cardholder, Discover will kick in another $250. Lots of secured credit cards don't have sign-up bonuses, so the fact that this one does is great for cardholders.

FICO® Score for free

Discover provides you with your up-to-date FICO® Score in its Credit Scorecard tool. You can access this online, in Discover's app, or see it in your monthly credit card statement. This tool also lets you know the factors that are affecting your credit and what you can do to improve your credit score.

When you're building credit, it's important to have access to your credit score to monitor your progress. Your FICO® Score is the type of credit score that's most widely used by lenders, so Discover's FICO® Credit Scorecard is very useful.

Graduate to an unsecured card

The Discover it® Secured Credit Card can graduate to a traditional, unsecured Discover credit card. Discover starts automatic reviews after seven months to see if it can convert your card into an unsecured card and refund your deposit. This is an excellent feature for a secured credit card. It means you don't need to close the card to get your deposit back, so you can keep building your credit history with it.

LEARN MORE: Best Unsecured Credit Cards

No foreign transaction fee

Quite a few cards tack on a 3% foreign transaction fee for international purchases, but the Discover it® Secured Credit Card isn't one of them.

Highly rated customer service

One of the reasons Discover credit cards are popular is the card issuer's excellent customer service. It has 100% U.S.-based customer service, and it consistently posts high scores in J.D. Power's yearly customer satisfaction studies. It's always nice when your card issuer provides quality service, and it's especially important when you're new to credit.

What could be improved

There isn't much to critique about this Discover card, but it could improve in one area.

High deposit requirement

Since this is a secured credit card, it requires a refundable security deposit. Deposit amounts start at $200, and your deposit is equal to your credit limit. The minimum required deposit could be too expensive for consumers who don't have much saved.

This is a minor quibble, but there are secured cards with smaller security deposit options. If you need a smaller deposit amount, look into credit card reviews for other secured cards.

Suggested credit score

There's no minimum credit score for the Discover it® Secured Credit Card. You can qualify for this card whether you have no credit history or you have bad credit because of issues ion your credit file. That doesn't mean approval is guaranteed no matter what, but this is one of the easier credit cards to get.

The Discover it® Secured is right for you if:

If you have either bad credit or no credit history at all, the Discover it® Secured Credit Card is one of the best credit cards you'll find. Most credit cards that target consumers with bad credit don't offer many perks, and some even take advantage of cardholders by charging exorbitant fees.

The Discover it® Secured Credit Card is a welcome change from all that. Consumers who need to improve their credit and who can afford the minimum deposit should strongly consider applying.

Our credit card methodology

At The Motley Fool Ascent, we rate credit cards on a five-star scale (1 = poor, 5 = best). Our rating criteria includes rewards rates, welcome bonuses, fees, and perks like travel credits and 0% intro APR offers to evaluate our ratings.

We combine these factors with an evaluation of brand reputation and customer satisfaction to ensure you're getting the best card recommendations. Learn more about how The Ascent rates credit cards.