Discover Bank Review: A Great Online Bank for Your Checking, Money Market and CD Needs

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4.7
SCORE
GOBankingRates Best Banks 2023 scores and rankings are objectively determined by our research/editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors that differ from category to category depending on what consumers want from varying products and banks.
Quick Take: Discover® Bank, Member FDIC, is an online bank that offers a full range of deposit accounts, including checking, savings, money market and certificates of deposit, with no monthly fees. Discover® Bank checking also lets you earn cash back when you make qualifying debit card purchases each month. Plus, the bank offers above-average rates, a large free ATM network and 24/7 customer service.
  • Checking Account
    4.9
  • Savings Account
    4.5
  • CD Accounts
    4.8
  • Money Market Accounts
    4.9
  • Banking Experience
    4.5
How did we calculate this?

Pros

  • No minimum deposits on checking and savings accounts
  • No monthly fees
  • No insufficient funds or overdraft fees
  • Above-average rates
  • 24/7 customer service

Cons

  • High minimum deposit to open a CD
  • Limited branch availability

Discover Bank Overview

People have known about the Discover card since its national launch in 1986 when its Super Bowl XX commercial announced the “Dawn of Discover.” However, these days, Discover offers much more than just credit cards and competitive rates. Discover is also a full-service online bank that offers a variety of banking products with a mission focused on helping its customers engage in smarter spending, saving and debt management.

For these reasons and more GOBankingRates has ranked Discover Bank among the Best CD Accounts, Best Checking Accounts, Best Money Market Accounts and Best Online Banks for 2024.

Discover Bank: Key Features

Whether you’re looking for FDIC-insured accounts, low minimum balance requirements, high-yield savings or competitive interest rates, it’s important to choose the right account. Here’s what you need to know about Discover Bank to see if it’s a good fit for you.

Checking Account

Discover Bank offers only one checking account, but it’s packed full of impressive money-saving features. GOBankingRates has named it one of the Best Checking Accounts for 2024. Here are some key takeaways:

  • Discover® Cashback Debit account offers online checking that has no minimum deposit requirement, no minimum daily balance requirement and no monthly maintenance fees. 
  • It has no insufficient funds or overdraft fees.
  • This account pays 1% cash back on up to $3,000 worth of purchases with the debit card each month. See website for details.
  • When you need to access cash, you can withdraw fee-free money at over 60,000 ATMs worldwide.

Savings Account

The Discover® Online Savings Account, like the bank’s checking account, has no minimum opening deposit, monthly fee or minimum daily balance requirements. Plus, there are no insufficient funds, overdraft or excess withdrawal fees. The account pays APY and the interest is compounded daily and paid monthly.

CD Accounts

It’s no wonder Discover Bank’s high-yield CD account also ranked among GOBankingRates’ Best CD Accounts for 2024. The bank’s CD offerings have no monthly maintenance fees and are available in terms of three months to 10 years. A $2,500 minimum opening deposit is required to open a CD at Discover Bank.

Money Market Account

Discover’s money market account features an APY of for balances under $100,000 and for balances of $100,000 and above. GOBankingRates has ranked it among the Best Money Market Accounts of 2024. A money market account lets you earn high interest while still having easy access to your money through ATMs, debit cards and check options. It also offers these features:

  • No monthly fees
  • No minimum to open
  • Free standard and official checks
  • Free online bill pay
  • Free replacement debit card, with expedited shipping
  • Free stop payment order
  • Standard limit of six free withdrawals
  • Mobile check deposit

Banking Experience

Now that you’re familiar with Discover Bank’s products, here’s a look at some of the standout features that contributed to its ranking as one of the Best Online Banks in GOBankingRates 2024 rankings. 

  • Discover Bank has no minimum opening deposits on its checking or savings account.
  • Not having to deposit any money upfront makes it easy and affordable to open one or more accounts at your convenience. 
  • When you open an account at Discover Bank, there are no monthly fees and you won’t need to meet deposit minimums or other requirements to avoid extra charges. 
  • Discover Bank provides 24/7 access to banking service representatives, so no matter the time or day, you can get help with your banking questions or issues. Just call 800-347-7000 for assistance.
  • Discover Bank’s app is highly rated by users. Android users rate the app 4.5 out of 5 stars and iOS users rate the app 4.9 out of 5 stars.

How Does Discover Bank Compare?

Here’s how Discover Bank measures up to some of its competing financial institutions.

Discover Bank vs. Ally Bank

Besides a high-yield CD, as Discover Bank offers, Ally Bank offers two other types of CDs: Raise Your Rate CD and No Penalty CD. While Discover doesn’t offer more than one type of CD, it does offer better rates than Ally. Currently, both banks offer their highest APYs on their 6-month and 9-month CD accounts.

Discover Bank vs. American Express National Bank

American Express National Bank, Member FDIC, does not require any deposit minimums to open one of its CDs, which is much more affordable than Discover Bank’s $2,500 minimum deposit requirement. However, American Express National Bank does not offer money market account options like Discover.

Final Take

If you are okay with doing all of your banking tasks online, Discover Bank has much to offer. Its checking and savings accounts do not require minimum opening deposits, and none of its accounts have monthly fees that can eat into your funds. GOBankingRates has ranked Discover Bank highly in several categories including Best Checking Accounts, Best Money Market Accounts and Best Online Banks for 2024.

FAQ

Here are answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about Discover Bank.
  • Does Discover Bank have an app?
    • Yes, Discover Bank has an app for both iOS and Android users, and the app rates 4.9 out of 5 stars on the App Store and 4.5 on Google Play. You can text APP to DISCOV (347268) to download it on your phone. With the app, you can complete tasks such as depositing checks, finding ATMs, setting up bill pay, transferring money, setting up account alerts and even freezing your debit card in case of emergency.
  • Can I deposit cash into my Discover Bank account?
    • Yes, you can deposit cash into your Discover Bank account in any of the following ways:
      • Transfer from an external bank account
      • Direct deposit
      • Mobile check deposit
      • Mail a check to the following address:
        • Discover Bank
        • PO Box 30417
        • Salt Lake City, UT 84130
  • Is Discover a reliable Bank?
    • Discover Bank protects its customers' accounts in multiple ways, such as Secure Socket-Layer technology, proactive fraud monitoring and enhanced account verification measures.
  • Is Discover Bank financially stable?
    • Yes, Discover Bank has a stable rating from Standard and Poor's.
  • Does Zelle work with Discover?
    • Discover is not accepting new enrollments for Zelle at this time. If you enrolled in Zelle on or after March 1, 2022, you might not be able to use this service.
  • How can I withdraw money from my Discover® Savings account?
    • You can withdraw funds from your Discover Savings account up to six times per month. Withdrawals can be made via online transfer, wire transfer or official bank check.

More on Discover Bank

Compare to Other Banks

Cynthia Measom contributed to the reporting for this article.

Rates are subject to change; unless otherwise noted, rates are updated periodically. All other information on accounts is accurate as of Sept. 24, 2024.

Editorial Note: This content is not provided by any entity covered in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, ratings or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author alone and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any entity named in this article.

To determine rankings for the Best Online Banks, GOBankingRates looked at the following factors across exclusively online banks: (1) total assets as sourced from the FDIC; (2) monthly checking fee ratio (percentage based on the minimum to avoid the fee compared to the monthly fee itself); (3) savings APY; (4) 1-year CD APY; (5) Bauer rating (out of 5 stars); (6) products/services offered (auto loans, mortgage loans, credit cards, investment services and insurance); and (7) the average mobile app rating between the Google Play (Android) and Apple app stores. Factors (1) and (2) were weighted 0.5 times, and factors (3) and (7) were weighted 2 times. For all savings and checking account data, only the basic accounts/products offered at each institution were analyzed.

To determine rankings for the Best Checking Accounts, GOBankingRates looked at the following factors from all banks (excluding neobanks): (1) total assets as sourced from the FDIC; (2) number of branch locations as sourced from the FDIC; (3) minimum deposit to open an account; (4) monthly checking fee ratio (percentage based on the minimum to avoid the fee compared to the monthly fee itself); (5) APY on the checking account; (6) overdraft fee amount; (7) the average mobile app rating between the Google Play (Android) and Apple app stores. All factors were then scored and combined, with the lowest score being the best. Factors (1), (2) and (5) were weighted 0.5 times, and factor (4) was weighted 1.5 times.

To determine rankings for the Best CD Accounts, GOBankingRates looked at the following factors from all banks (excluding neobanks): (1) total assets as sourced from the FDIC; (2) number of branch locations as sourced from the FDIC; (3) minimum deposit to open an account; (4) 12-month CD APY; (5) 60-month CD APY; and (6) the average mobile app rating between the Google Play (Android) and Apple app stores. All factors were then scored and combined, with the lowest score being the best. Factors (1) and (2) were weighted 0.5 times, factor (3) was weighted 2 times, and factors (4) and (5) were weighted 4 times.

To determine rankings for the Best Money Market Accounts, GOBankingRates looked at the following factors from all banks (excluding neobanks): (1) total assets as sourced from the FDIC; (2) number of branch locations as sourced from the FDIC; (3) minimum deposit to open an account; (4) APY on the money market account; (5) the minimum balance needed to earn the APY; (6) monthly money market fee ratio (percentage based on the minimum to avoid the fee compared to the monthly fee itself); and (7) the average mobile app rating between the Google Play (Android) and Apple app stores. All factors were then scored and combined, with the lowest score being the best. Factors (1) and (2) were weighted 0.5 times, and factor (4) was weighted 4 times.

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