Discover Now Lets Apple Pay Users Redeem Cashback Bonuses for Purchases

Wednesday October 11, 2017 2:00 AM PDT by Juli Clover
Discover today announced the launch of a new Apple Pay feature that will let Discover cardholders use their Cashback Bonus rewards to pay for Apple Pay purchases.

To use the feature, customers make a qualifying purchase with Apple Pay using a Discover card, select "Tap for Details" in the Wallet app and then tap "Redeem" to add the Cashback Bonus as a statement credit in the amount of the purchase.

"Cashback Bonus redemption through Apple Pay can happen in just two touches for Discover cardmembers," said Szabolcs Paldy, vice president of e-business for Discover. "We are committed to providing simple and valuable solutions to our customers wherever and whenever they need them. Customer experience hinges on embracing mobile-first technologies like Apple Pay, and this new ability will make Cashback Bonus redemption even easier and more convenient for our cardmembers."
Using the new Cashback Bonus feature requires a Discover card added to Apple Pay, the Discover Mobile app, and a rewards balance higher than the purchase amount. Discover, like many credit card companies, offers points with qualifying purchases that can be redeemed for rewards or cash back bonuses.

Discover card users can already redeem their Cashback Bonus points for statement credits or as deposits into a bank account, so technically it was already possible to pay for Apple Pay purchases with Discover points.

It's not entirely clear what the benefit of the new feature is, but with the two-tap redemption method, it may be easier for users to redeem rewards using this method.

Qualifying purchases include those over $1 made with Apple Pay. Discover says that T-Mobile customers will not be able to use the feature unless connected to a Wi-Fi network.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
12 comments


Top Rated Comments

(View all)
Avatar
Drumjim85
9 months ago
The issue with using case back on another purchase is that you don't earn cashback on that purchase. You'd be better off to apply it as a statement credit, or towards a gift card with a bonus amount added to it.
Rating: 2 Votes
Avatar
frumpy16
9 months ago
This where it would be good if MR actually did some journalism and answered the obvious question of why there is a restriction on T-Mobile. Please advise.
Rating: 2 Votes
Avatar
tmiw
9 months ago
I wonder what's different with T-Mobile's network that would make it a problem.
Rating: 2 Votes
Avatar
samlikesmac
9 months ago

The issue with using case back on another purchase is that you don't earn cashback on that purchase. You'd be better off to apply it as a statement credit, or towards a gift card with a bonus amount added to it.


...that’s the idea. They don’t want you to earn cash back when you could just keep the money in their ecosystem. Less they have to pay in the long run per transaction.
[doublepost=1507740293][/doublepost]

Interesting feature. What they should do is give you extra points at certain retailers if you use Apple Pay.

Also, it’s very weird that it won’t work on T-Mobile. How is that even possible?


They already kind of do this with discover deals. You earn 5% cash back in store at certain places quarterly throughout the year.
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
whyamihere
9 months ago

What they should do is give you extra points at certain retailers if you use Apple Pay.


You earn 5% cash back in store at certain places quarterly throughout the year.


Back when Apple Pay first came out Discover gave 10% on all AP purchases for a few months. I sure do miss that.
Rating: 1 Votes
[ Read All Comments ]