Discover Credit Cards for 2023

Credit card preapproval is when your superficial financial information is matched to a credit card issuer's product with no impact on your credit score. It's a way for you to find out your chances of being approved for a credit card without going through a hard credit check, which temporarily lowers your credit score.

While preapproval can give you a good idea of your odds, it doesn't actually guarantee you'll be approved. Still, you can enter some preliminary information including your name, address, date of birth, annual income and monthly rent or mortgage payment on Discover's website to check if you match any of its cards.

Compared to other issuers like American Express and Capital One, Discover offers more credit cards for people with lower credit scores, including one of the best secured credit cards around. It also has some of the best student cards, including the Discover it Student Cash Back. Discover also has one of the strongest welcome bonuses on the market with its Cashback Match. Discover also doesn't charge an annual fee for any of its cards.

Discover vs. American Express

American Express offers a number of competitive cards, including cards for everyday spending and travel. You'll typically need higher credit scores to qualify for them, however, with many of its card offerings catering to people with good to excellent credit. 

Compared to Discover cards, Amex typically offer better perks in exchange for the higher credit requirements. More Amex cards carry annual fees as well, and it offers the better suit of travel cards. Discover also doesn't provide any business cards, while Amex does.

Discover vs. Capital One

Capital One has a more accessible lineup of travel cards, particularly in its Venture card family. It also provides stronger general rewards cards, like the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card*, which may not offer as high a flagship reward rate as the Discover it Cash Back, but it's more flexible in terms of where it can be used and also doesn't impose spending limits.

Capital One credit cards are typically geared toward people with higher credit scores, but it does offer secured and student cards. However, they don't really stack up to Discover's offering. Capital One cards may carry an annual fee, unlike cards provided by Discover. No cards from either lineup charge foreign transaction fees.

Capital One also provides the CreditWise tool, which can help you monitor your TransUnion VantageScore and prevent identity theft. It's free for everyone, however, not just Capital One cardholders. Though Discover does offer free FICO credit score checks for some of its cardholders.

You're able to have up to two Discover cards at a time, provided you've had the first Discover card for a year before applying for the second. The number of credit cards you should have comes down to how good you are at managing debt and multiple monthly payments.

While it is more responsibility, having more than one credit card could help you maximize rewards for all of your spending and also improve your credit score by helping you maintain a lower credit utilization.

Choosing the right card comes down to your spending habits and your credit. Discover offers a rewards card, a travel card and a number of credit cards designed for students or for people with limited credit.

If you spend across a variety of different purchases, the Discover it Cash Back could be a good choice. If you're looking for a simple and inexpensive travel card, the Discover it Miles offers travel rewards (miles) for all of your purchases, which can then be used to fund your trips.

None of Discover's credit cards charge an annual fee or foreign transaction fees, and they offer one of the best welcome bonuses around. For your first year with the card, Discover will essentially double the rewards you earn at the end of your first year. That makes any of its cards a worthwhile choice -- at least initially.

If you need to build credit or are going to college, consider either the Discover it Secured Credit Card or Discover it Student Cash Back.

Discover is a good issuer to choose if you're looking for rewarding yet inexpensive cards, or if you need to establish better credit scores. Discover doesn't provide many advanced cards -- meaning credit cards with expansive card perks -- but it's a good place to start. And none of them have an annual fee, so you can combine them with other cards that may cover different purchases or have better features.