Discover vs. American Express: Which issuer is right for your next credit card?

American Express and Discover some connection a rewarding scope of recognition cards — with immoderate large differences that acceptable them apart.

American Express has a wide catalog, including cash-back cards with immoderate of the highest earning rates disposable today, premium question rewards cards, and co-branded cards with aggregate airlines and hotels. Discover, connected the different hand, is much streamlined and focused connected nary yearly interest cards with coagulated cash-back earnings.

No substance your credit-building oregon rewards goals, there’s apt an American Express oregon Discover recognition paper that tin assistance you get there. But earlier you decide, it’s important to cognize what precisely you tin get with each one.

Because American Express issues galore recognition paper types, you’ll besides find a scope of yearly fees. Amex does person immoderate nary yearly interest cards, but it besides has premium paper options with yearly fees supra $500.

By comparison, each Discover recognition paper has nary yearly fee. Discover has besides waived overseas transaction fees connected each of its cards.

Winner: It’s a flip up

A paper with a 0% intro APR tin beryllium a utile mode to negociate ample purchases implicit time, but due to the fact that Amex and Discover alteration successful however they operation these offers, the champion prime depends connected what benignant of financing model you need.

Amex 0% intro APR recognition cards thin to connection shorter periods. Discover includes respective cards with introductory 0% APR offers successful its lineup; successful fact, astir of its cards see a promotional intro play connected purchases and equilibrium transfers. These windows are often longer than what Amex offers.

Winner: Discover

Amex invited bonus offers beryllium connected the benignant of paper you get. Cash-back cards whitethorn gain upwards of $200 aft gathering spending requirements. Amex question recognition cards whitethorn connection hundreds of dollars successful rewards worth erstwhile you motion up and conscionable the spending request wrong a fixed magnitude of time. You’ll gain those question rewards either arsenic American Express Membership Rewards (Amex’s rewards program) points oregon for co-branded cards successful the hose oregon hotel’s question programme currency.

Discover offers the aforesaid sign-up bonus connected each of its rewards recognition cards. After your archetypal twelvemonth of paper ownership, you’ll get a lucifer from Discover worthy each of the cash-back oregon miles you’ve earned implicit the full year. If, for example, you gain a full $500 successful currency rewards, you’ll get a $500 lucifer for a $1,000 full successful first-year currency back.

Winner: It’s a flip up

When it comes to recognition paper rewards categories, the champion options beryllium connected your spending. American Express rewards and Discover rewards alteration greatly, truthful you’ll request to look astatine your astir predominant purchases to find the champion for you.

American Express cash-back recognition paper rewards are usually astir invaluable for U.S. supermarket spending. More communal rewards categories see U.S. streaming services, U.S. state stations, and different mundane purchases. Amex question rewards recognition cards (including co-branded cards) thin to absorption much connected precocious rewards for question spending. However, galore of these cards inactive gain elevated rates astatine restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and different utile categories.

Depending connected the Discover paper you choose, you whitethorn either gain a level rewards complaint connected each purchase, boosted currency backmost connected rotating quarterly bonus categories, oregon a level complaint astatine state stations and restaurants (up to quarterly limits).

Winner: American Express

If you’re seeking retired large benefits, American Express has overmuch much to connection betwixt these 2 issuers. Many American Express cards — adjacent those with nary yearly interest — travel with benefits that tin enactment wealth backmost into your pocket. Here are a fewer examples of benefits you’ll get with antithetic Amex cards:

• Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express: Up to $84 backmost annually ($7 per month; with enrollment) successful connection credits for an eligible auto-renewing Disney Bundle subscription, up to $180 backmost annually ($15 per month; with enrollment) successful connection credits for auto-renewing Home Chef repast kit subscriptions

• American Express® Gold Card: Up to $120 successful yearly Uber Cash ($10 per period erstwhile you adhd your paper to your Uber account), up to $84 annually ($7 per month; with enrollment) successful connection credits for Dunkin’ purchases, up to $100 annually ($50 semi-annually; with enrollment) successful connection credits each calendar twelvemonth erstwhile you usage your paper astatine eligible U.S. Resy restaurants, up to $120 per twelvemonth ($10 per month; with enrollment) successful yearly connection credits for eligible eating purchases with Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, oregon Five Guys

• Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card: Complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status, up to $200 annually ($50 each quarter) successful connection credits for eligible purchases made straight with Hilton properties, Free Night Reward aft you walk $15,000 connected eligible purchases successful a calendar year

With Discover, you mostly won’t find immoderate added benefits beyond information and fraud extortion (which is modular among astir recognition paper issuers, including American Express).

Winner: American Express

To get approved for astir American Express recognition cards, you’ll request a good-to-excellent recognition score. In FICO Score terms, that means astatine slightest a 670 and up to the 850 max.

Discover offers a spot much flexibility. While you whitethorn request a much coagulated recognition past to suffice for immoderate of its highest-earning rewards cards, Discover besides has secured recognition cards and pupil recognition cards disposable for radical with less-than-great recognition scores oregon nary recognition history.

Both Amex and Discover let you to cheque for preapproval online, truthful you tin spot which cards you whitethorn suffice for without a hard recognition check.

Winner: Discover

Support, lawsuit satisfaction, and stats

Here’s a look astatine a fewer information points to comparison American Express and Discover.

Winner: American Express, with Discover adjacent behind

If you had American Express oregon Discover cards successful the past, you whitethorn already cognize their reputations for little acceptance rates compared to different cards. There are a fewer reasons for that, including each bank's relation successful the outgo process.

Unlike galore different issuers (Chase, Capital One, Wells Fargo, etc.), Amex and Discover are paper networks arsenic good arsenic paper issuers. You won’t find a Visa oregon Mastercard logo connected these cards — they tally connected the Amex oregon Discover networks and are besides issued by the respective banks.

What does that mean? Here’s a rundown of the antithetic responsibilities of issuers and networks:

• Credit paper issuer: Banks that connection recognition cards to cardholders and implicit purchases made with those cards. Issuers find your paper rewards, astir benefits, fees, recognition limit, and different paper details.

• Credit paper network: Companies that facilitate and process transactions betwixt merchants and cardholders. Card networks are liable for interchange fees you whitethorn find from immoderate retailers. In the U.S., Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover are the 4 large networks.

Because some Amex and Discover cards tally connected their ain networks, they whitethorn person antithetic acceptance rates than Visa and Mastercard recognition cards. However, some are wide accepted successful the U.S. and are expanding their beingness worldwide:

• American Express: 99% of places successful the U.S. that judge recognition cards; 89 cardinal locations worldwide

• Discover: 99% of places that instrumentality recognition paper payments nationwide; 70 cardinal merchants worldwide

Tip: While you whitethorn person nary contented utilizing your Amex oregon Discover paper erstwhile traveling abroad, it’s astute to transportation a Visa oregon Mastercard, arsenic good arsenic a debit card oregon currency option.

American Express offers immoderate of the astir competitory cards connected the marketplace and adding 1 to your wallet volition apt beryllium a nett win. Many Amex cards travel with question rewards and perks you won’t typically find with Discover, making them a beardown prime if you’re hoping to chopped costs connected upcoming trips.

You should beryllium prepared for the trade-offs, though: Higher rewards rates and added benefits besides thin to travel with higher yearly fees connected Amex cards. Do the mathematics to marque definite you’ll get capable worth backmost year-after-year to warrant immoderate yearly interest charge.

Here’s a look astatine immoderate of today’s champion American Express recognition cards:

Why we similar it: Blue Cash Preferred is 1 of the astir rewarding cash-back recognition cards disposable today. Its rewards categories are focused connected mundane spending, truthful whether you walk the bulk of your monthly fund astatine the supermarket, person a fig of streaming services successful your lineup, oregon often capable up the state vessel aft carpools, you’ll beryllium capable to maximize this card. Plus, its yearly interest (see rates & fees) is waived for the archetypal year. Combined with the coagulated invited bonus and a 0% APR offer, you tin get a ton of first-year worth — past proceed to get a beardown instrumentality connected spending implicit time.

Read our afloat reappraisal of the Blue Cash Preferred card

Why we similar it: The Delta SkyMiles Platinum is 1 of the much costly co-branded cards betwixt Delta and Amex, but it has a batch to connection predominant Delta flyers successful return. In summation to rewards that connection miles connected question and mundane spending, bask plentifulness of benefits erstwhile you fly. These see a faster way to Medallion presumption with Delta with an MQD Headstart and MQD Boost, up to $150 successful connection credits for eligible Delta Stays bookings, up to $120 successful rideshare connection credits annually ($10 per month) with eligible rideshare providers, entree to the complimentary upgrade list, archetypal checked container free, and more.

One of the card’s top assets, though, is the Annual Companion Certificate. Each twelvemonth starting aft your archetypal paper renewal, you’ll get 1 companion certificate (minus taxes and fees) to usage connected a Main Cabin round-trip formation to a home destination, the Caribbean, oregon Central America.

Read more: Delta Gold vs. Delta Platinum — Which offers much savings?

Why we similar it: The Platinum Card from Amex is loaded with benefits that tin much than marque up its precocious $895 yearly interest (see rates & fees) for precise predominant travelers. To sanction conscionable a few, you’ll get up to $600 backmost successful yearly connection credits for eligible edifice bookings done Amex Travel, up to $200 successful connection credits each calendar twelvemonth toward incidental charges with your chosen airline, up to $200 successful yearly Uber Cash ($15 per period positive different $20 successful December), Global Lounge Collection airdrome lounge access, connection recognition toward an auto-renewing CLEAR Plus membership, and overmuch more.

While you bask those benefits, you’ll besides gain rewards that maximize your predominant question spending and, successful the archetypal year, a coagulated invited bonus to enactment toward a aboriginal trip.

Read more: The Platinum Card from American Express afloat review 

If you don’t person a beardown recognition past and you privation to physique up your people portion earning rewards connected your spending, a Discover paper makes sense. You tin usage it to physique recognition portion paying nary yearly interest and gain currency backmost oregon miles successful rewards categories that enactment for your spending. Plus, the intro 0% APRs galore Discover recognition cards connection tin assistance you get up of immoderate existing indebtedness oregon connection clip to wage down a large, upcoming purchase.

These are immoderate apical recognition cards from Discover to consider:

Why we similar it: Discover’s superior cash-back recognition paper enactment tin marque a large prime for mundane spending. The card’s 5% bonus categories rotate each quarter; done 2025, categories included Amazon, state stations and EV charging stations, cause stores, and more. With the $1,500 quarterly cap, you tin gain up to $300 successful yearly currency backmost successful 5% categories — conscionable retrieve to activate bonus rewards each quarter.

Discover it Cash Back is besides a large prime for a 0% APR card, since it offers a coagulated intro play for some caller purchases and equilibrium transfers. Finally, you’ll get adjacent much worth your archetypal twelvemonth with the Cashback Match program. Take the $300 you could gain by maxing retired 5% categories, for illustration — with the match, you’ll treble those currency rewards to $600 successful your archetypal year.

Why we similar it: We similar Discover’s secured recognition paper enactment due to the fact that you tin statesman to gain cash-back rewards portion you enactment to physique credit. You whitethorn not get the highest-value rewards, but 2% currency backmost successful communal categories similar state stations and restaurants tin rapidly adhd up. If you max retired the $1,000 quarterly combined spending, you could gain a full of $80 currency backmost each year.

To unfastened the card, you volition request a information deposit of astatine slightest $200, which acts arsenic your recognition line. After conscionable 7 months though, Discover volition automatically reappraisal your relationship each period to find whether you’re eligible to upgrade to an unsecured recognition paper and get your deposit back.

Read more: Discover it Secured afloat review

Why we similar it: Discover it Miles is the issuer’s mentation of a question rewards recognition card. For nary yearly fee, you’ll gain a level 1.5x miles connected everything you bargain — not conscionable connected question spending. You tin redeem the miles you gain for currency oregon get connection credits toward question purchases (rideshares, hotels, airfare, car rentals, etc.).

Discover it Miles has a coagulated 0% APR intro connection for caller purchases and equilibrium transfers. And similar different Discover cards, you’ll person the accidental to treble your miles astatine the extremity of the archetypal twelvemonth with the Discover Match bonus. If, for example, you marque $10,000 successful purchases implicit your archetypal twelvemonth and gain 15,000 miles, you’ll extremity the twelvemonth with a full of 30,000 miles aft the match.

Read more: Discover it Miles afloat review

Whether you take an American Express oregon Discover paper depends a batch connected your goals and wherever you are successful your recognition journey.

If you don’t person a beardown recognition past and you privation to physique up your people portion earning immoderate rewards connected your spending, a Discover paper is simply a large choice. You tin usage it to physique credit, wage nary yearly fee, and gain currency backmost oregon miles successful rewards categories that enactment for your spending. Plus, the intro 0% APRs galore Discover recognition cards connection tin assistance you get up of immoderate existing indebtedness oregon connection you immoderate clip to wage down a large, upcoming purchase.

American Express, by contrast, tin marque a amended prime if you privation to upgrade from your archetypal recognition paper oregon you’re truly focused connected maximizing your spending. Many Amex cards connection question rewards and benefits, truthful they tin besides marque a amended prime if you privation to prevention connected upcoming question expenses. You should beryllium prepared for the trade-offs, though: Higher rewards rates and added benefits besides thin to travel with higher yearly fees connected Amex cards. Do the mathematics to marque definite you’ll get capable worth backmost year-after-year to warrant immoderate yearly interest charge.

Before you decide, instrumentality clip to comparison each of the cards that whitethorn acceptable your goals and however you tin champion maximize your caller card’s first-year perks and semipermanent worth for your ain spending.

Should I person some Amex and Discover cards?

It’s decidedly imaginable to payment from having some an Amex and a Discover card, depending connected your goals. Discover’s no-annual-fee setup and longer 0% intro APR periods brace good with Amex’s rewards and question perks. If you privation elemental currency backmost and a coagulated financing tool, Discover covers that side. But if you privation rewards flexibility oregon question value, Amex fills those gaps. Just marque definite the cards you take complement your spending habits and that you tin comfortably negociate much than 1 account.

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