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You are here: Home / Credit Cards / Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer vs. Discover It® Cash Back Credit Card

Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer vs. Discover It® Cash Back Credit Card

January 27, 2023 by Gail Kellner

Cash back credit cards can earn you some nice rewards on every purchase you make. That's a big advantage over using your debit card or cash. Two of the best cash back credit cards are the Citi® Double Cash Card - 18 month BT offer and the Discover It® Cash Back Credit Card. We compare these cards so you can decide which one to apply for, or if you want to apply for both.

Citi® Double Cash Card - 18 month BT offer
Citi® Double Cash Card - 18 month BT offer

Overall Rating

4.9

Welcome Offer

None (terms apply)

Rewards Range

1% to 2%

Annual Fee

$0

Regular APR (V)

18.49% - 28.49%

0% Into APR on Purchases

None

0% Intro APR on Transfers

18 months, then a variable rate

Foreign Transaction Fee

3% of the U.S. dollar amount of each purchase.

Read Review
Discover It® Cash Back Credit Card
Discover It® Cash Back Credit Card

Overall Rating

4.4

Welcome Offer

None (terms apply)

Rewards Range

1% - 5%

Annual Fee

$0

Regular APR (V)

16.49% to 27.49%

0% Into APR on Purchases

15 months, then a variable rate

0% Intro APR on Transfers

15 months, then a variable rate

Foreign Transaction Fee

None

Read Review

Welcome Bonus

Neither the Citi® Double Cash Card - 18 month BT offer nor the Discover It® Cash Back Credit Card are offering a welcome bonus at this time. However, the Discover It® Cash Back Credit Card does offer a year-end bonus of sorts, but we'll get to that. For now, it's a tie because neither card has a signup bonus.

Cash Back Rewards

Citi® Double Cash Card - 18 month BT offer pays 1% cash back when you make a purchase and 1% cash back when you pay the bill, for a total of 2% cash back. If you pay the bill in full each month, you can get 2% cash back every month.

Discover It® Cash Back Credit Card offers 5% cash back on purchases for a different category each quarter, and 1% cash back on everything else. You need to activate the 5% cash back category, though, so if the little details of life have a way of slipping through your fingers, you might not be able to take advantage of this. For January through March 2023, you can choose 5% cash back on either grocery stores, drugstores, or select streaming services on up to $1,500 in purchases.

Discover It® Cash Back Credit Card also has Cash Back Match for the first year. You can get a dollar-for-dollar match on whatever cash back rewards you've earned throughout the year. If you max out your cash back rewards on your 5% category, that's $300. Discover will match that with an additional $300 automatically. Since you also earn 1% cash back on everything else you spend, technically, there's no limit to Cash Back Match. Discover It easily wins this round.

Here are the details for each card:

Citi® Double Cash Card - 18 month BT offer 

Rewards:  

2% cash back
All eligible purchases
Earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases.

Discover It® Cash Back Credit Card

Rewards: 

5% cash back
Rotating Categories
Earn 5% cash back on everyday purchases at different places each quarter like Amazon.com, grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, up to the quarterly maximum when you activate. Earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in purchases when you activate.
1% cash back
On all other purchases
Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases - automatically.

Rates and Fees

Citi® Double Cash Card - 18 month BT offer offers 0% APR on balance transfers only for the first 18 months. After that, your rate will be 18.49% - 28.49% variable, based on your creditworthiness. This is a great deal if you want to transfer higher-interest credit cards and can help you get out of debt faster. Keep in mind that balance transfers do not earn cash back.

Discover It® Cash Back Credit Card offers 0% APR on both purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months. After that, your rate will be 16.49% to 27.49% variable, depending on your creditworthiness. If you have either higher-interest debt or want to make a major purchase, this could be a great choice.

Neither card has an annual fee, but Citi® Double Cash Card - 18 month BT offer has a foreign transaction fee of 3% of the U.S. dollar amount of each purchase. The Discover It® Cash Back Credit Card card doesn't have any foreign transaction fees. Discover is a better choice if you plan on international travel because those foreign transaction fees can really add up.

Who the Citi® Double Cash Card - 18 month BT offer is Best For

Citi® Double Cash Card - 18 month BT offer is a great card and one of our favorites at Allcards.com. You earn 2% cash back on everything you purchase; you have a 0% balance transfer offer, and there's no annual fee. There are no rotating categories to keep track of; just a simple 1% when you purchase and 1% when you pay. Because of the way the rewards are structured, this card is perfect for people who pay their bill in full every month: then you get a straight 2% cash back on every purchase. There are no caps on rewards, either. Because it's so easy, this card is a great choice for anyone who doesn't want to fuss with credit card rewards.

Because of the foreign transaction fee, this card is not a great choice as an international travel companion. But if you're interested in travel, the Citi Premier Card offers a sign on bonus of 60,000 points, plus elevated rewards for on certain categories for an annual fee of just $95. This allows you to wring out the maximum value from your Citi® Double Cash Card - 18 month BT offer because you can transfer your points to the Premier and use them with Citi's travel partners.

Who the Discover It® Cash Back Credit Card is Best For

Discover It® Cash Back Credit Card is a great card for anyone who doesn't mind choosing a different category every quarter (set an alert on your phone). That can get you elevated rewards on categories like grocery stores, fitness clubs/gyms, gas stations, Target, restaurants, and Amazon (some of these were categories in 2022); the categories for January through March of 2023 are grocery stores, drug stores, and streaming services. The categories for the rest of the year haven't been announced yet.

You also get that Cash Back Match, which is a great boost at the end of the first year of card membership. Discover's customer service is often complimented. And, although this is completely frivolous, Discover offers 25 card designs to choose from, so you can have a card that reflects your personality (or at least a design that you like).

Another card to consider if you don't mind rotating categories could be the Chase Freedom Flex(SM). Not only do you get a signup bonus, but you earn Chase Ultimate Rewards, which are quite valuable when transferred to Chase's travel partners. And there's no annual fee.

Does it make sense to get both cards?

Since neither card has an annual fee, you could use your Discover It® Cash Back Credit Card for the 5% category and use the Citi® Double Cash Card - 18 month BT offer for everything else. This would give you the best of both worlds: you'll earn 5% on one rotating category and 2% on everything else.

Approval Odds

The credit score data for the cards listed below comes from publicly available information in several forums. The accuracy of the information cannot be verified. Keep in mind that credit card issuers consider more than an applicant’s credit score and that underwriting standards change over time.

Approval odds for the Citi® Double Cash Card - 18 month BT offer 

App StatusDateCredit ScoreBureauCredit Limit
Approved08/15/2020
749
Equifax
$7,000
Approved05/12/2021
690
Equifax
$6,100
Approved07/25/2022
690
Not Provided
$2,400
Approved08/26/2022
772
Equifax
$5,000
Approved04/26/2020
752
Equifax
$13,800
Denied09/02/2014
710
Experian
---
Denied06/16/2017
752
Experian
---
Denied09/06/2020
777
Equifax
---
Denied06/13/2021
630
Equifax
---
Denied04/06/2016
607
Equifax
---
Denied09/17/2015
737
Experian
---

Discover It® Cash Back Credit Card

App StatusDateCredit ScoreBureauCredit Limit
Approved09/24/2021
786
Equifax
$3,000
Approved08/06/2021
705
Experian
$9,000
Approved06/21/2022
673
Experian
$11,500
Approved06/21/2022
677
TransUnion
$11,500
Approved06/21/2022
684
Equifax
$11,500
Approved11/24/2021
672
Experian
$1,100
Approved05/01/2021
666
Experian
$6,500
Approved09/24/2021
746
TransUnion
$3,000
Approved09/24/2021
772
Experian
$3,000

Citi Double Cash has far more denials than Discover it does. Discover might also be the better card to apply for if you have a credit score well under 700. Citi can afford to be picky, but it is a great card so if you have excellent credit, go for it.

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Rob Berger founded allcards.com in 2008 to help consumers make data-driven decisions about credit cards and banking. A retired trial attorney, he’s written about credit cards, banking and personal finance since 2007, and is the author of Retire Before Mom and Dad.

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