In many ways, establishing good credit is as important to college students as maintaining a good GPA. A credit card is one of the best ways to build a credit history and show that you can handle credit responsibly. Among the most popular choices in student credit cards are the Journey® Student Rewards from Capital One® and the Discover it® for Students. Let’s compare them side by side and see which one might be better for you.
| At a glance | ||
|---|---|---|
| Journey® Student Rewards from Capital One® | Discover it® for Students | |
| Annual fee | $0 | $0 |
| APR | The ongoing APR is 20.24% (Variable) | 0% on purchases for 6 months and 10.99% on balance transfers for 6 months, and then the ongoing APR of 13.24% - 22.24% Variable |
| Rewards program | Earn 1% cash back on all your purchases. Pay on time to boost your cash back to a total of 1.25% for that month. | 5% on revolving categories; 1% on all other purchases. Discover matches all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year - automatically. Only for new cardmembers. |
| Who would want each card? | ||
| Good for: |
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| Bad for: |
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Journey® Student Rewards from Capital One® vs. Discover it® for Students: The basics
These cards have a lot in common:
- Both have no annual fee.
- Both have no foreign transaction fee.
- Both are available to people with average credit.
- Both offer cardholders free credit scores.
Either card would be good for credit newcomers who want to track their credit score and who want to travel abroad as cheaply as possible.
Key differences:
- You don’t have to be a student to qualify for the Journey® Student Rewards from Capital One®, although the card is marketed specifically toward students. By contrast, you must be a student to get the Discover it® for Students.
- If you’ll be carrying a balance, interest rates are important. The Discover it® for Students offers 0% on purchases for 6 months and 10.99% on balance transfers for 6 months, and then the ongoing APR of 13.24% - 22.24% Variable. The ongoing APR is 20.24% (Variable) for Journey® Student Rewards from Capital One®.
Nerd Tip
The rewards
The rewards on each card may end up being the decider here.
The rewards program on the Journey® Student Rewards from Capital One® program is set-it-and-forget-it. You get 1% cash back on everything, plus an additional 0.25% in any month when you pay on time. If you make your first five payments on time, you may get a credit line increase. This can help boost your credit score by lowering your credit utilization ratio — the percentage of your available credit that you’re using.
The Discover it® for Students’ rewards program is a little more complex. You earn 5% cash back in categories that change each quarter (on up to $1,500 in spending each quarter), and 1% back on everything else. You have to remember to opt in to the bonus categories each quarter. You’ll get a $20 cash bonus each year for having a GPA of 3.0 or higher. And this card adds a sweet bonus down the line: Discover matches all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year - automatically. Only for new cardmembers.
This year’s 5% cash-back categories for Discover are:
| Q1 (Jan. 1 – March 31) | Gas and ground transportation |
| Q2 (April 1 – June 30) | Restaurants and movies |
| Q3 (July 1 – Sept. 30) | Home improvement and Amazon.com |
| Q4 (Oct. 1 – Dec. 31) | Amazon.com and more |
The extras
The Journey® Student Rewards from Capital One® rewards you for good credit management: Paying on time earns you a higher cash-back percentage and possibly a credit line increase. You can also choose your monthly due date to make it easier to manage your money. And you have access to your credit score so you can chart your progress.
Discover it® for Students rewards you for good grades. And if you slip up and pay late, you won’t have a late-payment fee the first time ($35 if you make the same mistake again) and your APR will not increase.
This card also has Discover’s “Freeze it” feature. When you register your card with the Discover app or online, you can “turn your card off” if you lose it or it’s stolen. No one — even you — can make any transactions with the card until you turn it on again. Although both cards have zero fraud liability, this feature can save a lot of hassle if you think your card may be merely misplaced rather than truly missing.
Which card should I get?
With these details in mind, think about how you live. Which features will benefit you the most? If you expect to do a lot of spending in the 5% bonus categories and you don’t mind tracking those categories, go with Discover it® for Students. On the other hand, if you just want a decent cash-back rate with no complications, you pay on time and you’d like to get some benefit for doing so, consider the Journey® Student Rewards from Capital One®.
Regardless of which card you choose, remember that the main purpose of a student card is to help you build a solid credit history. Do your part by spending only what you can afford to pay back and by paying on time every month.
Ellen Cannon is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: ecannon@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @ellencannon.
from NerdWallet
https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/students-capital-one-vs-discover/
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