Discover® Motiva Card Review

Discover® Motiva Card Online Application

3.9% Intro APR.
No Annual Fee.
5% to 20% Cashback Bonus.
Earn up to 1% Cashback Bonus on all other purchases.
Pay-On-Time Bonus equal to a full month′s interest.

Intro APR	Intro APR Period	Regular APR	Annual Fee	Balance Transfers	Credit Needed
3.9%*	6 months*	10.99%*	None.*	3%*	excellent / good*

This credit card allows you access to two basic rewards programs: the cash back program and the on-time payment scheme. Basically, if you make your payments on time each month, at least amounting to the minimum payment, then after six consecutive months you are entitled to a Pay-On-Time-Bonus that equals the Periodic Finance Charges on your next bill.

With the cash back program you are able to redeem rewards in increments of $20 after earning 1% on all purchases after your first $3000 and a lesser percentage on amounts preceding that amount. This is lower than other Discover cash back programs however in conjunction with the Pay-On-Time-Bonus hopefully you will be able to benefit from the account.

There are no annual fees for this kind of credit account however there are fees in association with late payments, balance transfers, overlimit spending and cash advances. Late fees will cost you $15 for any amount up to $500 and $39 for any amount exceeding that; after the introductory offer ends on December first 2007, however, this rate will increase to $19 for any amount up to $250 and $39 for any amount higher than that. Balance transfers are calculated at 3% of the transfer with a minimum payment of $10 and a maximum of $75; the transferred amount is also subject to immediate APR of 3.9% until May 2009 after which it will be subject to the standard purchase APR.

Overlimit fees are $15 on amounts up to $500 and $39 for any amount thereafter. Cash advances are charged at the standard Discover rate of 3% or $5 minimum and annually charged at a rate of 23.99%. The purchase APR on the card is set at between 10.99% and 18.99% depending on your own credit history; however this range is still an introductory offer and if you miss payments and carry your purchase balance forward then this will change to the default rate of up to 28.99%. If you make regular payments that clear your purchase balance each month then you will retain your 25 day grace period during which no purchases will be subject to APR; if you don't retain this grace period then you will end up paying much more in interest than is necessary.

Balance transfers will not be made after December 1st 2007; these are processed during a four week period and in order of lowest amount to the highest. Discover advises that you continue to make payments to other credit companies until you are certain the transfer has been made.