Credit Card Review: Biodegradable Discover® More (SM) Card
If you read our previous review of the Discover® More (SM) Card, you may be considering a switch to this immensely popular cashback card. But before you sign up, you might want to take a look at the Biodegradable Discover® More (SM) Card first. Touted as the first biodegradable credit card (and the only biodegradable credit card offered by Discover) available to the public, the Biodegradable Discover® More (SM) Card has all the cashback rewards of the non-biodegradable Discover® More (SM) Card, but with slightly less impact on the environment.
If the notion of a biodegradable credit card never crossed your mind, consider the following figures highlighted by the New York Times:
- The typical non-biodegradable credit card is made from PVC
- There are approximately 1.5 billion credit cards in the U.S., each one expiring every three years
- A stack of all the credit cards on earth would reach 70 miles into space
PVC, as you can imagine, doesn’t biodegrade when buried (otherwise our plumbing systems would be a joke). And when/if PVC does break down (via incineration) it releases harmful dioxin, which, according to a European Union study, contributes between 38% and 66% of all chlorine content in waste streams. This means that dioxins end up being released into the air and water and, ultimately, in our food and drink.
The Biodegradable Discover® More (SM) Card, on the other hand, is made from BIOPVC, which biodegrades safely in nine months to five years in a landfill or in soil. But enough treehugging – what matters about the Biodegradable Discover® More (SM) Card in the short term is its cashback bonuses, $0 annual fee and 0% introductory APR for balance transfers for the first 6 billing cycles. Not only that, the Biodegradable Discover® More (SM) Card comes with a stylish little logo in the corner that proves to the checkout lady at the co-op that you <3 the earth.
You can read all the fine print about the Biodegradable Discover® More (SM) Card yourself, or you can check out our synopsis below.
Biodegradable Discover® More (SM) Card Interest Rates
Like the normal, non-biodegradable Discover® More (SM) Card, the Biodegradable Discover® More (SM) Card gives you 0% interest on purchases for the first six monthes. After that, the standard APR is a variable between 11.99% and 18.99%, depending on your credit score.
Balance transfers are also 0% for the first 6 billing periods. If you plan on transferring a balance, it’s important to do so when you first sign up in order to lock in the 3% balance transfer fee. After that, balance transfers cost up to 5%. In both cases, there is a $10 minimum and no maximum balance transfer fee.
Of course, if you are late or delinquent on a payment, all these introductory APRs disappear immediately, regardless of how far into the introductory period you are. You’ll then be charged the default interest rate.
Cash Back with Biodegradable Discover® More (SM) Card
The Biodegradable Discover® More (SM) Card cashback perks work like most cards do these days: 5% on rotating categories and 1% on all other purchases.
The rotating categories are picked for you by Discover and include certain predetermined “popular categories.” These rotate once a quarter and you can see what’s coming up when you log in online. So, for example, for July through September, the categories could be hotels and gas and the next quarter it could switch to restaurants and grocery stores. In order to get the most out of rotating categories, it’s important to keep tabs on what you’ll earn 5% cashback on and time your purchases accordingly.
You can also get up to 20% cashback rewards from selected retailers when you shop through Discover’s online portal. To do so, all you have to do is browse retailers through Shop Discover. Click here for a list of Biodegradable Discover® More (SM) Card cashback bonus partners.
Lastly, and perhaps least excitingly, you get 1% cashback on all other purchases after your spending exceeds $3,000. Up until that point, you get a mere 0.25% casbhack on normal purchases.
Bottom-line Opinion for Biodegradable Discover® More (SM) Card
Our opinion of the Biodegradable Discover® More (SM) Card is the same as the Discover® More (SM) Card – probably the best cashback card you’ll find nowadays with no annual fee, but rife with the usual pitfalls (make those payments on time, or you’ll have a pretty crappy eco-friendly card on your hands). Knowing that the card won’t outlive your grandchildren once it gets taken to the dump may also help you sleep at night.
Sign up for the Biodegradable Discover® More (SM) Card now.
* See the online credit card application for details about terms and conditions. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. When you click on the “Apply Now” button, you can review the credit card terms and conditions on credit card issuers website.
P.S. – As a public service, we’ve omitted all such phrases as “Go Green, Save Green!” and “Put Some More Green in Your Wallet When You Go Green!” because we assume you’re tired of hearing that kind of stuff.
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