Discover Credit Card 5% Possibilities

Update 11/23/2014 - Gift cards will likely not qualify for 5% cashback.


From now until the end of the year, Discover it is offering 5% cashback for Online Shopping and Department Stores, on up to $1,500 of purchases which is $75 cashback.  You must activate the 5% cashback before your purchases to qualify for the 5%.

In addition to your regular spending online, here are some possibilities of how to maximize your 5%. As usual, we are also on the look out for ways to Manufacture Spending.  Let's try to get $75, or at least some of it, without actually spending money.




Here are a couple of suggestions:

1) In Store Google Wallet NFC Payments

• Google Wallet is one of many companies that allow you to pay for purchases with your smartphone.  Doctor of Credit reports that in store purchases using Google Wallet might be coded as online purchases. 
• Many pharmacies, including CVS, allow for NFC payments and sell Visa Gift cards and Paypal Reload cards.

2) American Express Gift Cards - Update 11/6/2014 - I've seen reports of Discover considering Amex Gift Cards as Cash Advances, I would stay away.

• I haven't actually tried this, but it makes sense that it will work.  They don't sell $1,500 gift cards so you can buy 1 $1,000 gift card and another $500 gift card.  Purchase and shipping fees come out to $16.85 for the $1,500 of gift cards.

• Start you purchase from Top Cashback and you will get 1.5% cashback as well for $18.75 cashback, which more than covers your fees.
• You can either use this as a possibility to get 5.13% cashback wherever AMEX is accepted or you can cash out via Google Wallet for a $43.50 fee for a net $33.35 gain.

3) Online Simon Mall Visa Gift Cards

• I haven't tried this either, but once again there is no reason it shouldn't work.  You can buy $500 Visa gift cards for a $2.95 fee.  $1,500 of gift cards will cost $1,519.12 total with shipping
• Advantage of Visa Gift Cards is that they can be used as Debit Cards in some places to buy Money Orders for cheap, load onto Serve/Bluebird at Walmart or pay bills with Evolve.
• You are basically getting 4% cashback with slightly less work than with AMEX gift cards.

Google Wallet No Longer Free

Google Wallet became one more way to manufacture free spending on your credit card.  During its promotional period you could send money for free to a friend for free and pay for it with a credit card.

The promotional period is over so it isn't completely free, but that's not the entire story.

Your first $250 is still free!  Anything $250 or above normally costs 2.9% or a minimum of $0.30.

It was nice while it lasted.  It's still free to send money via your bank account.

Google Wallet - Free Credit Card Spending

Update 6/8/13:  Google has introduced a 2.9% fee for anything $250 or above.  Less than $250 is still free one time with a credit card

Google Wallet has been rolling out a new feature that allows you to pay anyone with a gmail address for free.  For the time being, even paying with a credit card is free.

I don't know when the promotion will end, but until it does it is possible to "spend" money by giving it to friends and have them give it back to you.

As with anything else, common sense is very important.  They don't want abuse of the system so if you keep sending money from one person back to the same person they will catch one and, potentially, shut you down.  I don't know the repercussions and I don't know how much you would have to spend in order to be flagged.  Bottom line, don't be an idiot and you should be okay.

Sign up for google wallet here.

You need to be "invited."  One way to automatically be invited is if someone sends you a payment for any amount you will then be able to send payments to others.

If you would like to be invited, send me an email, and I will try to accomodate you with a payment of a couple cents. 

HT - Frequent Miler, DansDeals

Other Free Spending
Bluebird Made Simple
Chase Fee Free Visa Gift Cards