10 Discover Card Designs
With the plethora of credit and debit card offerings available today, it can be difficult to find the right card that will match your lifestyle and financial capacity. One of these options is the Discover credit card. This article will deal with the different credit card types that the Discover brand offers and the specific card designs that you may get with an application. Some helpful tips regarding credit card use is also included in the write-up below.
Discover Cards, a Brief History
Discover credit cards are one of the top four credit card companies in the United States. It was launched by retail store giant Sears in 1985. Back then, the Discover card was issued by the Greenwood Trust Company and was parts of the Sears Financial Network. The first Discover card design featured at the trademarked Discover insignia and its payment processing partner Novus®’ logo.
The company underwent different management leaderships—from Dean Wittier to Morgan Stanley—until 2007 when it became independent and was called Discover Financial Services.
Until now, the Discover cards’ main draw is by having no annual membership fee and by offering refunds for a part of the amount of money spent per year. There are now different Discover credit card lines targeting students, the working adult, travelers, and even NHL fans. On top of that, you may also choose among different credit card designs for your own card.
What Is a Discover Card?
A Discover Card is a credit card. As with any other credit card, you may use this card for making cashless purchases online or through any partner merchants. The Discover card may also be used for paying bills, utilities, mortgages, loans, etc.
How to Apply for a Discover Card
Applying for a Discover Card may be done online through the company’s official website at discover.com. You may also submit applications through banks and authorized service kiosks. Most credit card applications will require you to fill out a credit application template form. These forms may come in a printed format (if you visit a physical bank or office to file the application) or in an online form.
These forms will ask for your personal identifiable information like name, date of birth, age, address, current employer, previous employer/s, length of employment, annual income. Some financial institutions may also require you to submit tax returns. Also remember that any credit card application will affect your credit score. This will result in a hard pull into your credit history and creditors will be able to see this inquiry if you happen to file for a loan or mortgage application at the same time. Hard credit score inquiries will stay in one’s credit report within a few months to years. As long as you make diligent monthly payments, you will not have an issue with your credit report.
Guidelines to Take Note When Applying for a Credit Card
Here are some guidelines to follow when you are in the process of applying for a credit card:
- Assess your needs and lifestyle. What will you do with a credit card? How much can you spend? What are the perks of this type of credit Are there annual fees? What is the interest rate? Can you convert your purchases for flyer miles? These are a few of the questions you need to ask yourself when applying for a credit card. blank credit card design template should not be your priority when choosing credit cards. The benefits that the credit card can give should be the reason you decide to get one.
- Be truthful when writing down your personal information and income. background verification is a standard practice done by most financial organizations. This is done as a form of security against the risk the bank is taking if they approve your application. That is why you should write only accurate information in your application form. Creditors become wary when loan applicants form data does not match their income data obtained through official means.
- Declare all sources of income. In connection with the previous tip, financial firms also perform income verification with most of their potential customers. Declaring all your sources of income and the total amount you earn may even let the bank decide that you are an acceptable risk. This may either result to a better loans terms.
- Read the fine print and ask questions before signing and submitting the form. By applying for a credit card, you are in effect entering into a contract or agreement with a creditor (either a bank or a financial organization). You should take your time in reviewing this application/contract before signing it. Always ask questions regarding the credit terms, interest fees, refund promotions, points conversion, etc., if you are not sure what they mean and how you may benefit from them. By doing this, you will not be surprised with any issue that may come up and affect your account.
- Research. Browse for and compare other credit card offers. Prior to finalizing a credit card application, always make sure to research other credit card options that other companies may offer. Other companies may even have sign-up promotions where they may match other brand’s offers. After carefully reading through different credit card company sales letter, you will then be able to make the best decision based on your own needs.
- Be prepared for your credit score to be affected. As mentioned earlier, credit card applications will result in a hard inquiry to your credit score. That is why you should not file credit applications in bulk because this will cause a significant reduction in your credit score within a short period of time. Creditors may also be wary of individuals who have multiple credit inquiries due to credit card application/s or approvals as this may indicate that the person may not be able to make payments for all these credit cards. Check this for more information about credit scores vs. credit reports.
- Go to legitimate sign-up sites. In the digital age, credit card applications are now mostly done online. When signing up online, always make sure that you are on the official website. You can check this by seeing the green key icon at the beginning of the URL or by making sure that the site is using its https version. There are other online security safeguards that you can do but the two mentioned earlier are quickest ways to determine whether or not you are on a secure site or not.
Different Types of Discover Card Designs
Embedded below are various Discover Card designs. Customers may choose from an array of credit card designs for their own card during the application process. Existing cardholders may also request for a new card design without changing their card numbers.
Purple Discover Card Design
Blue Discover Card Design
Discover Cash Credit Card Design
Discover Travel Miles Card Design
NHL Discover Card Design
Gas & Restaurant Discover Card Design
Chicago Blackhawks Discover Card Design
Anaheim Ducks Discover Card Design
Minnesota Wild Discover Card Design
Pride Discover Card Design
Garnet Discover Card Design
Tips for Preventing Discover Credit Card Fraud
With a credit card, you gain so much power over your purchases and lifestyle choices. But this great power, as cliché as it may sound, also comes with great responsibility. And in terms of bank cards, this involves financial responsibility.
Credit card fraud is one of the most common online crime nowadays. That is why banks, financial firms, and governments all over the world have devised innovative technology to help protect online financial transactions worldwide. However, lapses still occur with this evolving technology. As a person who is planning to get a credit card or as someone who already has a credit card like the Discover it card, it will benefit you to heed the following tips to help avoid identify theft and fraud.
- Activate Credit Freeze or Fraud Alerts for your account/s. Some banks and organizations allow their customers to institute an account opening freeze. This step deters online thieves since they will not be able to access a person’s bank account details or other personally identifiable information to open unauthorized accounts or to get money. When an unauthorized transaction or inquiry occurs, the account holder is contacted to inform and verify if they instituted the inquiry. If not, authorities can then institute measures to track and possibly apprehend the perpetrator/s.
- Monitor transactions routinely. Credit card statements, just like debit cards statements, will show a list of all the things you bought and paid for using your card within a month. By looking into your statements each month, you can catch any deductibles that were not authorized. You are then able to nip these transactions in the bud by reporting and having the charges removed within the same month. For big families, you may also set up authorized users for your account and sign credit card authorization forms to make this effective. This way, you will be able to know who made the purchase and determine if this purchase was authorized or not.
- Setup a strong password and two-way sign in. When shopping online, eCommerce sites will often ask you to create an online account before finalizing an order. Some sites may also store any payment information that you may use with the site. When creating online accounts like these, always make sure to designate a strong password. And if you can do away with creating an online shopping account, do so.
- Make sure to do online shopping or payments through secure websites or channels. As mentioned earlier, only shop through online stores that bear the verified key icon in the URL or those sites using the https format. These markers lets you know that you are in a secured site and any payment information you enter through the site is guarded safely.
- Contact the IRS, your bank, or a government enforcement agency if you receive unsolicited calls, email, or mail asking you to make payments non-filing of income tax.
- Contact issuing bank and request for a new credit card account number. In the extreme event that your credit card has been hacked or you found out that your card has been used in an unauthorized transaction, contact your bank immediately and request for a new card. At this point, you may also ask for a new credit card design if available.