Discover Review

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Advantages Over Regular Bank

Discover online savings and money market accounts hold a number of advantages over the more traditional banking options. To begin with, there is no minimum deposit requirement for opening a savings account. So, anyone can open an account at any time. You also don’t need to maintain a specific balance within the savings account to avoid being penalized.

What’s more, the Discover online savings account has no monthly maintenance fees.

Naturally, with an online savings account from Discover, you also get the added bonus of digital convenience. You’ll never have to worry about standing in lines, waiting for a teller to get off the phone, or wrestle for a parking space with these accounts. All of your transactions can be carried out online, including deposits, withdrawals, transfers, account management, and account overview checkups. (And that’s without even mentioning the mobile app that we’ll cover in a section below.)

You may also earn more interest with a Discover online savings account than you would with a regular bank savings account. For these reasons, Discover’s online savings account is an option for anyone who wants to leave some extra cash in an account where it will accrue value over time.

Discover's Money Market Account offers an impressive APY of 0.50-0.55%, which you can access any time from Discover's excellent mobile app. Discover allows you to withdraw cash from your MMA for free at one of its network of over 60,000 ATMs nationwide.

Cutting-Edge Banking Services

Discover online banking has features that run the gamut, from total account control to effortless money transfers and more. These are the best features we noticed during our review:

• Mobile check deposit

We’ll cover the awesome mobile app a little further down in the review, but this feature needed to be highlighted up here. You can scan a check with your smartphone and have it deposited directly into your account instantly. This is an amazing way to fund your online savings account, and it’s also the next step in convenient banking solutions.

• Money transfers

Discover also lets you fund your account by setting up automatic transfers from your checking or savings accounts as well. Bank transfers are allowed from any Discover account or another external bank’s account. And you can even mail a check directly to Discover if this is more your speed.

Traditional Banking Services

Accessing your funds will depend on what type of account you open. The savings account lets you withdraw via online transfers, domestic or international wire transfers, or official bank checks. There are no personal checks or debit cards involved.

• Cashback checking account

Discover offers customers 1% cashback on qualifying debit card purchases every month (up to $3,000), so you can earn money when you spend it.

• CDs and IRAs

Discover also offers its customers IRA CDs and traditional CDs. These are available in terms ranging from 3 months all the way up to 10 years. Obviously the longer the term you sign up for, the better interest rate you'll land as well.

Discover also has a huge network of 60,000 ATMs across the U.S.

Interest Rates and Fees

Discover’s online savings account offers 0.60% APY. Considering the fact that most major traditional banks like Chase, Citibank, and Bank of America offer APYs of 0.01%-0.04%, 0.60% is generous. Plus, interest on your Discover online savings account is compounded daily. Discover's Money Market Account offers an APY of 0.50-0.55%, which varies depending on the balance of your MMA.

In terms of fees, Discover has an impressive list of $0 fees among the list of regular fees it charges. You won’t be charged anything for many of the usual services, including:

• Monthly maintenance
• Money Market Accounts
• Official bank check issued
• Expedited delivery for official bank checks issued
• Incoming wire transfers
• Deposited item returned
• Stop payment order
• Insufficient funds
• Account closure
• Excessive withdrawal fee

Customer Service

Discover has 24/7 customer service every single day of the year via a toll-free phone number. There’s also an international number that you can reach customer assistance within case you’re overseas. Discover has an in-depth FAQ section and an ATM locator on the site as well.

Mobile Apps

Discover has a sleek mobile app that makes it easy to access your online savings account from anywhere in the world at any time of day. Some of the most exciting features we found on the app were:

• Mobile check deposit

This lets you quickly snap a picture of a check using your smartphone or tablet and have it instantly deposited into your online savings account.

• Easy transfers

The mobile app also lets you transfer from one account to another. You can make transfers from another one of your Discover accounts or from a different bank altogether. Note that outside bank transfers will take longer (up to 5 business days), while Discover bank transfers will show up in your account instantly.

• Fast logins

The Discover online savings account mobile app lets you quickly access your account on the go. You can even use biometric or facial recognition to alleviate the annoyance of logging into your account without compromising security.

• Quickview

Finally, the mobile app has a feature known as Quickview. It lets you quickly see your account balance without having to log into your actual account.

Security

Two threats today are data theft and ID hacking, and Discover has protection for you against them both. To begin with, Discover uses Secure Socket Layer technology that encrypts all of your data, so nobody can access any personal or account information of yours. Your account is also protected by a user-generated password. Discover continuously monitors all of your accounts and account activities for possible fraudulent activities, and it even has a dedicated Fraud Unit to keep close tabs on you.

If your identity is stolen, Discover has your back. It offers $0 liability protection, which means you won't have to pay a dime if there are any unauthorized online or mobile transactions associated with your accounts.

Conclusion

Discover online banking offers customers several products including convenient checking accounts with 1% cashback on monthly debit card purchases, high-yield savings accounts, money market accounts, CDs, and IRAs with equally impressive interest rates. Add to that good customer service, low or no fees, and one of the best mobile apps we’ve seen, and Discover quickly becomes a good option for online banking.

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